The American Gamer
by silthara
Summary: Jun Tachibana had a tough life with their would-be adopted family, scraping by paycheck to paycheck. Then, Jun woke up one morning and became The Gamer.
1. Introduction: The Basics

**It's been a long time since I've done any sort of creative writing. I will be releasing chapters bit by bit until the first arc is over. The first arc, Tutorial, is six chapters long. As I release these chapters, I will plan out and write the next arc. The next arc won't be released until I've had time to edit and, possibly, rewrite pieces of the next arc. I hope you enjoy the slight oddity I have written based on the webcomic, The Gamer.**

* * *

_ It is early in the morning. The light of the rising sun filters through the old curtains covering a window, gently illuminating the living room. The apartment is quiet at this time of the morning. The living room contains only two couches and a coffee table. One of the couches held a pull-out bed and was currently in use._

_ A young heavy-set teen is sleeping soundly on a pull-out bed. His complexion was light. He was sleeping in blue boxers, nothing else. His black hair was very short and frizzy. He smacked lightly a few times before slightly shifting around, wrapping the sheet around himself. A teen slept next to him._

_ He was sleeping lightly. He had a tan complexion and was skinny, petite even. He slept in a black tank top and a denim skirt that stopped just before his knees. He had long, soft black hair that went past his waist. The other boy's shifting around disturbed his slumber. He rolled over onto his left side and started to wake up. At that moment, two lines of floating text appeared above his head._

My eyes cracked open. I laid there for a moment, listening to Darren shifting around. I could feel the pull-out bed rocking from his movements. I groaned and carefully got out of bed. I stood there for a moment. I was slowly waking up.

I headed over by the kitchen and went into the bathroom. I stopped in front of the small sink that was next to the door. I quickly brushed my teeth. I grabbed the mouth wash off the rack under the sink. I dropped the mouth wash when I looked up at the mirror. I stared at mirror, fully awake and in shock. There were words floating above my head.

_The Gamer_  
_Lv.2 Jun Tachibana_

The words just hung there. I took a step back and the words above my head moved with me. I stepped to the left and the words followed me. I stepped to the right and got the same result. I couldn't help but panic at the thought that I had gone crazy.

All of a sudden, I felt a sense of calm wash over me. I heard something make a short dinging noise. A small game window appeared in front of me. I read the contents of the window and felt that I really had gone crazy.

_*DING!*_  
_The skill effect of Mind of the Gamer has been activated._

The window disappeared after a few moments. I calmly picked up the bottle of mouth wash and rinsed out my mouth. I returned the bottle to the rack under the sink. I left the bathroom, feeling more numb than calm. I glanced at Darren, who was still asleep. There was text floating above him as well.

_Struggling Student_  
_Lv.4 Darren Rockwell_

For some reason, I felt a little upset that Darren was a higher level than me. I had always thought we were pretty even when it came to most things. I headed into Alice's bedroom. I couldn't see her under the covers but I saw she had text floating above her as well.

_Customer Service Punching Bag_  
_Lv.9 Alicia Rockwell_

I ignored the text above her name and smiled after seeing Alice's level. She worked two jobs to take care of us. She deserved to have a higher level than Darren and me. Alice's alarm clock went off as I walked towards the closet. As I opened the closet, I heard her hand slam into the alarm clock. That meant it was six o'clock.

"Morning, Alice.", I said as I picked out a shirt and another skirt. There were no shorts in the closet, meaning I needed to do laundry. Alice let out a loud groan as I grabbed some socks and boxers from the dresser. "Did you sleep well?", I asked as I shut the dresser drawer. I got a low groan as a response. That always meant 'it wasn't long enough'.

I headed out of Alice's room and shut the door so she could get dressed in privacy. I went into the kitchen and turned on the coffee pot for Alice. I headed into the bathroom with my clothes for the day and took a shower. Once I was done, I sat on the toilet seat and started carefully drying the long mess that was my hair. There was a knock on the door when I started gently brushing my hair.

"Hey, you almost done? I really gotta pee.", said a deep voice. The voice belonged to Darren. I wrapped my towel around me and opened the door. Darren was standing at the door. He had the sheet from the pull-out bundled up in front of his waist.

"Morning wood?", I asked. He fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable. I couldn't help myself. His reactions made teasing him too much fun. His face turned red.

"Man, just get outta the bathroom!", he said loudly as I slipped past him. If he wasn't embarrassed then it just wouldn't be fun. "Yo, put your clothes in the hamper or Alice'll have a fit.", he said as he shut the door. I made my way to the fridge.

"It's laundry day. She'll understand.", I said as I opened the fridge to see what I could use for breakfast. We had to choose from eggs, a half gallon of milk, some lunch meat, cheese, and unsweet tea. I knew we still had about half a box of a generic brand of cereal in the cupboard. "Milk is so expensive.", I whined as I grabbed the milk. I preferred using milk for baking, not cereal. I laid out the box of cereal, two bowls, and milk. Then, I poured a cup of coffee for Alice.

On cue, Alice opened the bedroom door and came out dressed in her work shirt and black pants. Her hair wasn't pulled back into the usual ponytail. She picked up her cup and leaned against the counter. She took a drink and her face wrinkled a little. Alice never did like straight coffee but what could I do? We were out of creamer.

I glanced at Alice. The two lines of text were still there. It felt surreal, in a way. I poured myself a bowl of cereal. I could hear the sound of a toilet being flushed coming from the bathroom. Darren came out and eyed the cereal, smiling.

It didn't take Alice and Darren long to eat breakfast, get ready for the day, and leave the apartment. Darren had school and Alice had a shift to work at the convenience store. I gathered up my clothes in the bathroom, grabbed the hamper, and headed for the washer next to the front door. I opened the sliding closet door and put a load of clothes in the washer. I turned to head back to the bathroom and stopped dead in my tracks.

There was..._something_ standing in the living room, next to the pull-out bed. Their body was constantly undergoing slow changes, occasionally even switching between genders. Their height, clothes, and skin color fluctuated at the same rate. Even their eye color was always changing. I felt a strong sense of fear and panic come over me. I noticed the text floating above their head.

Lv.? ?

"Greetings, Gamer.", said the being in a voice that sounded both male and female at the same time. I felt that same sense of being calm come over me as soon as I heard the sound of a ding. I saw a window in front of me with the same text I had seen earlier in the bathroom.

_*DING!*_  
_The skill effect of Mind of the Gamer has been activated._

"Who are you?", I asked. I was a little surprised by how calm I sounded. The being answered my question with a small laugh. "How did you get in here?", I asked as I continued watching their body change in every way imaginable. The constant change was more than a little unsettling.

"Who I am and how I got here is not important. What is important is that you have been chosen to receive the power of The Gamer. I'm sure you've noticed the words floating above my head and others by now. I have no doubt you have seen what is above your own head as well. I felt you are at least owed a slight explanation of the choice you must make.", said the being as it continued to stand there, unmoving. The being's mouth wasn't even moving but I could still hear it's voice.

"As The Gamer, you can become so much more than you are now. You have the power to create dungeons and hunt monsters. In doing so, you will level up, earn money, and find equipment to make yourself stronger. However, this power has a serious drawback: using your power will put yourself and your would-be family in immense danger."

"The danger will come from you being noticed by the Abyss. The Abyss is a hidden side of the world and it is full of dangerous people. Murders and assassinations are common occurrences in the Abyss. At times, you will have no choice but to fight simply to survive, keep your freedom, or protect the people you love. There are nasty people who would think nothing of imprisoning you and feeding off of your power to make themselves stronger. In the Abyss, death is often the best result you can hope for upon losing a single fight."

After that, the being went silent. I thought about what I had been told. I knew there were all sorts of evil people in the world. I've met and ran from their kind before. They were the reason I lived on the streets for years, surviving off dumpsters and trash. Still, I wasn't afraid of them. Though, I did have two questions.

"Where did my power come from?", I asked quietly.

"A theory in the normal world states that there is a conscious force in the universe. It has many names such as 'Gaia' and 'the will of the world'. Clearly, this force chose to grant you the power of The Gamer.", explained the being. I wasn't familiar with the theory but I wasn't buying it, not entirely.

"How do I use my power?", I asked firmly. The being raised it's hand and I felt something in my surroundings change. Then, I saw a window pop up in front of me.

_You have entered an instant dungeon._

"You will create what is called a protected space. Did you feel your surroundings change at all? That is the feeling of entering a dimension separate from the world you know. Now, you will learn how to leave this space. Raise your hand in the air with your palm facing the ceiling.", said the being. I did as I was instructed.

"Now, hold on to the thought of wanting to leave this space. At the same time, imagine you are releasing energy through the palm of your hand.", instructed the being. I heard a ding that could only be from my power. I stopped for a moment and saw a different window in front of me. I had to read it twice to be sure I didn't misread it.

_A new skill has been created: Magic Blast._

"Keep trying.", gently urged the being. I held onto the thought of leaving and imagined the energy leaving my hand. Shortly after, I felt something around me had changed again. I watched as cracks rapidly formed in my surroundings. The muted sound of breaking glass echoed through the apartment as my surroundings broke apart. Yet, I was still in the apartment.

_*DING!*_  
_A new skill has been created: Escape From Instant Dungeon._

"Very good. Now, keep your hand up. You will now learn how to create your own space for dungeons. Hold onto the thought of entering a space separate from reality. Then, imagine yourself releasing energy through the palm of your hand.", said the being. Somehow, I got the feeling they were a little excited to teach me, for some reason. I felt the space around me change as soon as I imagined releasing my energy through my hand and heard the same dinging sound effect.

_You have entered an instant dungeon._  
_A new skill has been created: Enter Instant Dungeon._

"With this, my role in your growth is now done. Honestly, I don't know why 'Gaia' didn't bother giving you a tutorial on how to use your powers. A game without tutorials is frustrating, not fun.", complained the being. I looked at my palm as they whined. I had another question for them.

"You said my power will put my family in danger. Is there a way for me to know when they're in danger?", I asked, hoping the answer was 'yes'.

"Yes and no. But, you should think about the games you've played. Now, I believe you created a skill separate from the dungeon skills?", asked the being. I nodded. "What skill did you create?", asked the being. I lowered my hand as I shrugged.

"Magic Blast?", I said, unaware of what I had done. A blue ball of flame erupted from my hand and hit the wall on the other side of the living room. The ball exploded when it hit the wall. After the dust settled, I saw the couches were destroyed and there was a large hole in the wall. I felt my jaw drop in horror at what I had done.

"Relax, we are in a protected space. This space is removed from the world you know. Leave this space and you will see what I mean.", instructed the being. I was too busy figuring out how keep Old Man Crocker from finding out about the damage. The being sighed and took us out of the protected space with ease.

"Look at the wall you thought you had damaged.", said the being. I looked and saw the wall and couches were still intact. "As you can see, the wall and furniture are fine. The damage you caused was limited to the protected space. 'Gaia' allows us to create these spaces for settling disagreements in various bloody manners. Those who use their powers in this world instead of protected space are fiercely punished. Now, I bid you farewell, Gamer."

The being was rapidly consumed by a green flame. The flame disappeared as quickly as it appeared and the being was gone. I was alone in the apartment again. I stared at my palm as I tried to figure out how I created that blue ball of flame. It didn't take long for me to suspect that it was because I said the name of the skill. After that, I felt like a cheesy anime character.

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**You will find some slightly reoccurring themes, such as "everyone has something they want to change". Also, don't worry. The next five chapters are definitely longer than this one.**


	2. Introduction: Character Creation

**Jun is such an odd ball character. I like how their personality and motivations turned out.**

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"The power of The Gamer...", I quietly mused while pushing the pull-out bed back into the couch. I put the couch cushions back in place. I moved the coffee table back in front of the couch. I glanced at my palm for the millionth time as I sat down on the couch. "Then, there's Magic Bla-", I started before covering my mouth in horror. I barely avoided making my earlier fear a reality.

"I really should be in a protected space, just in case.", I said nervously. I glanced between my palm and the wall I had blown up earlier. I knew I had learned a skill from making the protected space. I just couldn't remember the name of the skill. So, I retraced the beings instructions and manually created a protected space. A window appeared in front of me.

_Y__ou have entered an instant dungeon._

Like before, I felt something was off as I created the space. This time, I noticed what was missing. There were no sounds of cars honking or running engines. I couldn't hear the upstairs neighbors screaming at each other while things got broken. I didn't even hear the refrigerator running.

"It's kind of...", I trailed off. I was struggling to describe my new surroundings. "Peaceful, I guess?", I said with a shrug of my shoulders. It was just what I needed to keep my thoughts in order. I really needed to stay focused if I was going to figure out my newfound abilities. I held my palms away from me, just to be safe.

"So, I said Magic Blast earlier...", I trailed off as nothing happened. "Magic Blast.", I said quietly. A destructive blue ball of flame erupted from my hands and slammed into the refrigerator , exploding on contact. The explosion threw the refrigerator partially through the wall. "Huh, I really do have to say the name of stuff before I can use it.", I said, more than a little annoyed. I leaned back in the couch and slouched a little. With that sorted out, I could try tackling another problem with my powers.

"In theory, being a game character sounds great but how do I access the game menus?", I asked as I twiddled my thumbs. I looked back at the fridge I launched into the wall. I knew how to trigger my skills: saying the name of the skill. I quickly sat up straight as the being from earlier came to mind. The being had asked what skill I created.

"That can't be a coincidence.", I said, a little upset that I didn't notice it sooner. I gently chewed on the tip of my thumb as I went back through my exchange with the being. "Obviously, it wanted to teach me how to create and leave these spaces. What else did it say?", I pondered as continued to nibble on the tip of my thumb. "Think about the games you've played.", I said, paraphrasing the being.

"Most of the games I've played are borrowed from Mac and they're almost always sports games. Outside of that, Darren and I usually play MMOs together.", I said with a smile but the smile didn't last long. The being's hint also implied it was watching us. I really didn't like that thought. Still, what if my power could support basic systems from MMOs? I grabbed an unused notebook and pen from Alice's room. I wanted to write down everything I could think of.

"Character creation, class systems, talent trees, skill teachers, skill books, crafting professions, loot tables, quests, dungeons, raids, pvp arenas, auction houses, fast travel methods, limited time events, cash shops...", I spoke as I wrote down my checklist. I listed off every system and convienence in MMOs that I could think of. "I still don't know how to use any of the game menus but it'll be good to have a list of things to look into.", I said as I went over my list.

"Now, let's shift gears and focus on more traditional RPGs.", I said as I wrote 'MMOs' above my first list. It didn't take long for me realize I was drawing a blank on RPG systems. The laptop was pretty old and the only console we owned was an original Playstation. As a result, I was only familiar with RPGs from the early days of console gaming. It didn't help that the RPGs I did know from that era had most of the same systems. "Well, I doubt I'll learn any skills from leveling up since I can create skills.", I said, frustrated at my lack of RPG knowledge.

"For now, that just leaves figuring out how to open different menus.", I said as I chewed on the end of the pen. Before long, I pulled the end of the pen out of my mouth. "It wouldn't hurt to make a list of the different game menus I've seen.", I said as I wrote 'Menus' at the top of the paper. I drew a single line from the top of the paper to the bottom to act as a dividing column from my 'MMO' list. "Status-", I stopped speaking when a window popped up in front of me.

_Name: Jun Tachibana_  
_Occupation: The Gamer_  
_Level: 2_  
_Age: 15_

_HP: 120/120_  
_MP: 70/70_

_Strength: 5_  
_Agility: 11_  
_Intelligence: 5_  
_Wisdom: 4_  
_Luck: 19_  
_Points: 0_

I felt my jaw drop. I literally just needed to say the name of the menu I wanted to see? It didn't take long for me to come up with a few more questions. Could other people see these screens? Could I even touch the screens? What other menus were there? I settled for the easiest question to answer. I reached out and touched the status menu in front of me. A small pop-up was immediately laid over the status menu.

_Strength: Impacts HP, physical strength, and physical damage._

"Well, that settles that.", I said plainly after I finished reading the pop-up. I went through the menu and touched the name of each attribute to see what they did.

_Agility: Impacts movement and physical attack speed._  
_Intelligence: Impacts spell damage, maximum MP, and memorization capacity._  
_Wisdom: Impacts mana regeneration._  
_Luck: Small impact on all manner of things._  
_Points: Points that can be allocated to increase other attributes. You gain five points per level up._

"That was surprisingly informative.", I grumbled as I mulled over the implications of my stats and level. "Basically, I'm a weakling who's done nothing to improve myself.", I growled, annoyed. "Alright, what other menus are there?", I asked as I glanced over my 'MMO' list. It didn't take long for me to cross off classes, talent trees, and timed events from my list. "Party.", I said as my frustration continued to build due to a lack of results. A pop-up appeared in front of me.

_A party has not been created._

"Okay, that's good to know.", I said, happy to finally stop crossing off parts of my list. I decided to go out on a limb. "Create party?", I asked carefully. Another pop-up showed up.

_What would you like to name your party?_

"How do I name a party?", I pondered while chewing on the pen again. Another pop-up appeared.

_Party "How do I name a party" has been created._

"Ha ha. Now, how do I disband a party?", I grumbled, frowning as I read the newest pop-up. "Based on previous results: disband party.", I said, hoping my test worked. I was rewarded with another pop-up.

_The party has been disbanded by the leader._

"Skills.", I said, hoping for a result. I was happy to see another menu open up. There were a total of five skill icons shown. I hummed quietly as I touched an icon that looked like a blue ball of flame. A small window was laid over the skill menu.

_**Magic Blast Active - Lv:1 Exp:11.5%**_  
_Cost: 15 Mana_  
_Attack with a blast of mana from afar. Skill damage is linked to Intelligence._  
_Range: 10M_  
_Effect: Deals 300% magic damage._

"Wait, skills have levels?!", I yelped out of shock. "That can be a good and bad thing. A higher skill level means more damage but could also increase the mana cost.", I said as I remembered briefly watching someone play Disgaea. "I wonder if crafting works the same way. It is a skill, in a sense.", I said as I resumed chewing on the pen.

"Quests.", I said. I was rewarded with another menu. "Okay, my power can make quests. That's kinda weird.", I mumbled as I started writing. "Map.", I said, pleased with my progress. A bit later, I crossed off the rest of my list except for character creation. "I hope this is a thing.", I mumbled. I modeled my first attempt after how to create a party.

"Create Character.", I said nervously, hoping for a response. I was not disappointed. A window appeared before me.

_WARNING!_  
_You are attempting to create a new character. All levels, stats, and skills of the current character will be lost. Are you sure you wish to do this?_

There was two buttons, one for 'Yes' and the other for 'No'. I hesitated for a moment before pressing 'Yes'. The window disappeared and was replaced by a much larger window. To the right of the window, I could see a second window showing me as if I were standing up. It really felt like the character creation menu of a game.

There was several tabs on the left side of the window. One tab had two symbols intertwined with each other. One symbol was blue and the other symbol was pink but I couldn't make out the details of the symbols. Below that, there was a tab with the icon of a blank face. There was also a tab with an icon of the human body. The second to the last tab simply showed a plus and minus sign next to each other. The last tab simply showed a green checkmark.

I tapped my pointing finger on the tab with the two symbols. The menu displayed two options. The first option had an icon of a blue circle with an arrow attached to it. The other option was a pink circle with what looked like a plus sign attached to it. I was a little confused. I took a moment to think it over and realized what the symbols meant.

"Well, I know what choices Alice and Darren would make.", I said, troubled as I looked at the gender menu. I was faced with a problem: I had never really felt like I was one gender or the other. I had always felt like I was somewhere in the middle. Then, a small pop-up window appeared.

_New gender choice unlocked._

At the same time, a new button appeared in the window. It had a icon of the two gender symbols intertwined. I pressed the button out of curiousity and felt my entire body quickly shift and change in various places. The feelings caused a shiver to run down my spine. I inspected my body once the feeling of change went away. I was a little unnerved by the fact that I didn't feel very different.

"I wonder-", I started to speak before just falling silent. My voice sounded a bit higher, lighter even. I touched myself in a few places and started noticing changes. "So, I'm mostly a girl but, down there, I'm both.", I said with a big smile. I was starting to realize what the third button had done to me. "Gaia or whatever the source of my power is, thank you for not making me choose.", I said, hoping my thanks would be heard.

As happy as I was, I was still curious about the other tabs. I touched the tab with the face icon and watched the gender options be replaced with a new set of choices. There were sub-tabs at the top of the window for changing my face, hair, and eyes. I was pretty happy with how I looked, outside of my hair and eyes. So, I left my face alone and touched the sub-tab to change my hair.

The hair tab had tons of hair styles to choose from. It was like looking at Alice's old fashion magazines. The only thing I really wanted to change was the length and volume of my hair. I didn't want to go with the wrong length so I got up from the couch. There were several sliding bars beneath the massive options of hair styles.

Each sliding bar had it's own name. It didn't take long to find the options I wanted. I touched the sliding bars and dragged them with my finger to make the changes I wanted. I shivered as I felt countless new hairs sprout and grow to increase the volume my hair. It felt like there were dozens of bugs crawling around in my hair. The feeling was even worse when I made the length of my hair to reach my knees.

After that, I switched to the tab for changing my eyes. I had always thought it was really neat how some people were born with two different eye colors. So, I changed the color of my left eye from green to blue. I felt my eye itch for a moment. I looked at the second window that showed my body standing up. It was a little disorienting to see myself with two eye colors but I decided to keep the changes.

I was happy with how I looked after the few changes I made. I changed to the tab for changing my body. I wanted to see what options were available. It didn't take long for my scrolling to stop. I hummed as I eyed an option titled 'Breasts'. I tapped the option out of curiosity.

"So, I'm an A cup.", I said after I found a drop-down menu listing my size. I was curious to know what it felt like to be bigger than an A. I also felt like any major changes would just end up looking unnatural. I had always been pretty small, maybe even petite. I doubted I weighed more than a hundred twenty pounds. I backed out of the submenu and touched the tab with the plus and minus signs. I was surprised to see my stats get pulled up.

_Name: Jun Tachibana_  
_Occupation: The Gamer_  
_Level: 2_  
_Age: 15_

_HP: 100/100_  
_MP: 60/60_

_Strength: 4(5) + -_  
_Agility: 4(11) + -_  
_Intelligence: 4(5) + -_  
_Wisdom: 4(4) + -_  
_Luck: 4(19) + -_  
_Points: 24_

"Do I really get to redistribute most of my base stats?", I mused as I sat back down on the couch. I thought about the stat descriptions I had read earlier. "I've always preferred to be in the middle of the action instead of using ranged attacks or magic. So, I want to go for Strength and Agility. Raising my Strength would help me with tanking and damage. Raising Agility would let me move quicker.", I said, mulling over my options while chewing on the pen. I took a lot of time to weigh my options between going melee or magic.

I had a feeling there would be no going back once my choice was made. In the end, I decided to do what I enjoyed. I split my extra points between Strength and Agility. I also added the one point back to Intelligence. I didn't like the feeling of being stronger by becoming dumber. I touched the green checkmark and a small pop-up was laid over the menu screen. The window showed my new stat distribution and asked me to confirm my choices.

_Name: Jun Tachibana_

_Occupation: The Gamer_  
_Level: 2_  
_Age: 15_

_HP: 340/340_  
_MP: 70/70_

_Strength: 16_  
_Agility: 15_  
_Intelligence: 5_  
_Wisdom: 4_  
_Luck: 4_  
_Points: 0_

_Do you wish to create this character?_

I didn't hesitate to press the 'Yes' button this time. I felt something pass through my body. I knew my changes were locked in. I didn't care that I had lost the skills I had created. It only took a moment for me to escape the protected space. I heard the muted sound of breaking glass. I was back in the apartment and had recreated two of the skills I had lost.

What I didn't expect to hear was the sound of a cup shattering on the floor. I felt warm liquid and shards of glass land on my bare feet. Alice was standing a few feet away from me. Her jaw moved a little but she didn't say anything. I didn't choose my words carefully. "Alice, I can explain!"

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**I had forgotten that the site loves to strip all the spaces**** and stuff out of stories. I am not sure how I feel about that.  
**


	3. Introduction: Combat

**A lot of people have something they wish they could change about themselves or their life. On a separate note, I accidentally uploaded the wrong chapter TWICE and had to delete said wrong chapter. I apologize if you were spammed with update notifications because of my mistake.  
**

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I had explained everything to Alice. I proved everything by creating a protected space. Except, Alice didn't enter the space with me, not at first. It took me some time to realize the second hidden clue that the being had left me: Alice had to be in a party with me for my power to affect her.

After that, it was easy to bring her into protected space. She had a short meltdown when I used Magic Blast to blow a hole in the bedroom wall. Apparently, Alice and I were both afraid of Old Man Crocker's wrath. I also saw Mind of the Gamer affect Alice twice during my demonstrations, which surprised me. The hardest part was what would happen once my demonstrations were over. Honestly, I was afraid of Alice's reaction.

Alice and Darren had taken me in. They gave me a place to live and food to eat. In turn, I worked whatever jobs I could get that would pay under the table. I couldn't legally have a job since I was fifteen. Some of my jobs took advantage of me because of that. I put up with it because I wanted to help them like they helped me. The sound of Alice's voice pulled me from my thoughts.

"I wouldn't believe any of this if I hadn't seen it.", said Alice slowly. We sat on the couch in relative silence. It was where the majority of our discussion had taken place. I wanted her to have time to process things but she had a point. I would have thought I had gone insane instead of having received a special power, if not for the being.

"It is pretty crazy. Yesterday, I was a normal person. Today, I have powers that defy logic.", I replied carefully. I would count myself lucky to have a bed that wasn't made of newspapers. I meant to talk to her about it later but I was really scared of her reaction. I took a look around at the protected space we were in to take my mind off depressing thoughts.

The space was made by Alice. I taught her how to make her own space. She even created her own skills as she learned how to make it, much to our mutual surprise. Through that, I realized that I had only started to learn the basics of what my power could do. I also taught Alice how to use the Create Character command.

Alice decided to recreate her body. I knew she'd stay with brown hair and blue eyes. She did make her hair long enough to reach her shoulder blades. What I didn't expect her to do was bump her breasts up from a B cup to a D cup. She said it was to be more in line with her physique but I didn't buy it. Originally, she was about six feet tall but she said she took off a few inches and it showed. She was still a bit taller than me.

"What are you going to do?", she asked, looking me right in the eyes. I shrugged and avoided looking at her. I fiddled with my thumbs.

"I was told the Abyss is a pretty dangerous place. If I do it, I'm worried that I'll be putting you and Darren in danger. I-", I said, pausing at the end. "I only want good things to happen to both of you.", I finished. I couldn't look her in the eyes. She put her arm around me.

"And I only want good things for you and Darren but life doesn't always work out that way.", she replied. Her sentiments only made me feel worse. "Jun, look at me for a sec?", she asked. I did as she asked and looked her in the eyes. "You said this power can be used to make money, right?", she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's not like I've tested it. I mean, I'm curious about my power but I'm worried about both of you.", I replied with the honest truth. The theory of making money by killing monsters sounded good. It was one of the most common staples of MMOs and RPGs. She hummed for a moment before withdrawing her arm. She turned to look at me.

"Then, let's test it. I've always wondered what it would be like as a protagonist!", she said with a smile. Her bright, cheery smile made me feel like I was worried and upset for no reason. Despite that, I knew my explanation of the Abyss had to be weighing on her as well. She stood up and pulled me up from the couch. "Wipe that gloomy look off your face.", she said with a light-hearted laugh.

"Skills.", she said, touching the icon for Create Instant Dungeon. I read the skill description out of mild curiousity.

_**Create Instant Dungeon Active - Lv:1 Exp:0.0%**_

_You are able to generate a dungeon full of monsters._

_Dungeon ID:_

_0 - No monsters_

_1 - Goblins(Day), Zombies(Night)_

"Ok, how do we set the dungeon ID?", I asked. I was clueless at how to do that. Alice replied to my question with a small laugh.

"Well, we want to _set_ the dungeon ID, right? So, why not look in the Settings menu?", she posed. Even after all I had seen, I doubted there would be a Settings menu and told her as much. It felt too much like a cheap attempt at breaking the fourth wall. "Settings.", she said with confidence. I should have known it would work.

It took some searching around in the menus but we found the dungeon ID setting in the Game submenu. It was initially set to an ID of zero. So, we both set our dungeon IDs to one and got ready to leave Alice's space to create a new dungeon. It was the perfect chance for her to learn how to leave dungeons.

"So, it's just like a creating a dungeon.", she said as she raised her hand up. The protected space disappeared the same way mine did. "And then, we just magically pop up back in to reality from nowhere.", she said in an amused tone as she looked at me. "Are you really going to hunt monsters in a tank top?", she asked with a smile.

"My shirts won't be dry for a bit longer.", I said as I motioned towards the closet that held the washer and dryer. I raised my hand up. "Create Instant Dungeon!", I said. I was giddy, excited, and afraid all at the same time. "Besides, it's not like anyone else will see me.", I said as we entered the dungeon. A small window popped up to tell us that we had entered a dungeon.

We headed for the front door but Alice stopped me from opening the door. It didn't take long for me realize why. There was something moving around in the hallway. I felt a shiver run down my spine when it let out a deep moan. It sounded pretty close to the door.

"It really is a zombie.", said Alice, disgusted. "Here's what we'll-", she started to say something but was cut off by something slamming into the front door. A high pitched moan came from the zombie on other side of the door. It started ramming the door repeatedly. Alice pulled me away from the door. "The door will be fixed when we leave the dungeon. So, I'm going to blow up the door as a sneak attack.", she explained as she raised a shaky palm towards the door.

"Magic Blast.", she said calmly as a pop-up appeared in front of her, showing Mind of the Gamer had activated. The familiar blue ball of flame struck the door and exploded. When I looked, the door frame was gone, leaving behind only a hole where the door used to be. I heard a lot of loud moaning and shuffling come from the hallway. "Now, let's get out of here.", she said as she went through the doorway.

She stopped and raised her palm again. "Magic Blast." An explosion rocked the hallway as I left the apartment. "These zombies are pretty resilient. Good thing they're like Romero zombies.", she said before shooting me a wide smile. To my left, Alice had her palm directed at a pile of four zombies that struggled to stand up. I had a good idea of what she was thinking and raised my palm.

"Magic Blast.", we said together. It took only two shots from both of us to bring down the zombie pile. Once their HP ran out, the zombies turned into black smoke and disappeared. Several windows appeared in front of me at the same time.

_*DING!*_

_You have gained 454 exp._

_You have gained 489 exp._

_You have gained 472 exp._

_You have gained 495 exp._

_You have gained a level._

"Nice! You leveled up!", said Alice enthusiastically. She held up two five dollar bills when I looked up at her. "They really do drop money, just like in games.", she said as she put her arm around my shoulders. "Let's head back for now. I want to see if the money is real.", she said as she led me back to our apartment. Once we were inside, Alice took us out of the dungeon.

"Oh yea!", she exclaimed. I jerked backwards in surprise. "Darren is staying at Mac's house tonight. I forgot all about that!", she said excitedly. "We can keep hunting without worrying about popping up in front of Darren.", she explained with a smile. "You scared the heck out of me with that earlier.", she said as she gave me a playful punch to the shoulder.

"Again, I'm sorry about that.", I apologized for what must have been the tenth time. "I really didn't mean to scare you.", I said as I remembered the laundry needed to be done. I got sidetracked for a few hours by studying my power. I watched as Alice headed for her room.

"I'm still in my work uniform. I'm gonna change clothes before I head out.", she said as she shut her bedroom door. I pulled out the load that was done drying and threw the washer load into the dryer. I stripped off my tank top and grabbed a freshly washed shirt. I heard the bedroom door open as I put on my shirt.

Alice came out wearing a plain white shirt, a blue denim jacket, and a loose-looking pair of blue jeans. She held up the two fives we had gotten earlier. "I don't need to leave.", she said with a triumphant smile on her face. "I marked the bills with one of the counterfeit pens I swiped from work. There's no black mark! That means the money is real!", she said, excited as she pulled me into a tight hug.

"Yay!", I said happily as I hugged her back. "Hey, wanna do a late night grind like we used to?", I asked, super excited. Alice used to play MMOs with Darren and me until her computer and one of the laptops died for good a few months ago. Usually, I would play tank while Darren was DPS and Alice was the healer. She pulled back from me and winced.

"Ugh." She picked at her bra strap and slightly adjusted a few things. She caught me staring at her. "Wearing a bra that's two sizes too small is really uncomfortable.", she explained while blushing a little. She raised her hand and winced again. "Create Instant Dungeon!", she said happily. We found zombies right outside our apartment, just like last time. Alice blew up the front door with Magic Blast and took them down.

"Party.", I said, curious about the menu. To my surprise, a window appeared in the top left corner of my field of vision. The window showed our names, HP bars, and MP bars. The HP bar was red while the MP bar was blue. At the same time, there was also a window that opened up in front of me with settings for exp and loot distribution.

"Ok, that's pretty cool. It's like someone mixed VR and AR games together!", she commented. "Still, we're both low on MP. Status.", she said, clearly getting the hang of things. I looked at her status menu.

_Name: Alicia Rockwell_

_Occupation: Magician in Training_

_Level: 9 Exp: 37.89%_

_Age: 20_

_HP: 220/220_

_MP: 24/230_

_Strength: 10_

_Agility: 10_

_Intelligence: 21_

_Wisdom: 9_

_Luck: 10_

_Points: 0_

"What are you looking at?", I asked. Her stats were also a little too neat to be natural. Did she readjust her stats for magic like I did with mine for melee? I was also pretty sure her occupation was listed as something else this morning.

"Well, I wanted to see how close I am to gaining a level. What about you?", she asked. I brought up my status window and realized I had forgotten about my level up. "Okay, you just need one or two more zombies to level up but your stats are weird. Why are they so low?", she mused while looking at my stats.

_Name: Jun Tachibana_

_Occupation: The Gamer_

_Level: 3 Exp: 97.89%_

_Age: 15_

_HP: 340/340_

_MP: 12/70_

_Strength: 16  
_

_Agility: 15  
_

_Intelligence: 5  
_

_Wisdom: 4  
_

_Luck: 4  
_

_Points: 5_

"We'll pick and choose our battles until your MP is full.", I said as I moved in front of her. I could hear more zombies moaning and shuffling towards us from the hallways on the side. I could also see zombies slowly moving towards us from further down the hallway as well. "We need to leave the building or we could get boxed in and become a zombie manwich.", I said. My strategy earned a laugh from Alice.

_*DING!*_

_Wisdom has increased by 1 point._

"Did you really gain a stat boost from using strategy?", she asked as we rushed down the stairwell to the first floor. I was about to reach the door when I heard Alice scream my name. As I turned around, I saw a zombie take her to ground. I rushed forward and kicked the zombie in the ribs. My kick threw the zombie off of her but it still had a solid grip on her arms. Alice had lodged her feet against the zombie's chest but she couldn't break free.

I stomped on the zombie's arm again and again but it wouldn't let go of her. "Go for the head!", she screeched as the zombie slowly pulled her closer. I did as instructed and immediately noticed my attacks were having much more of an effect. I heard the familiar dinging noise twice but I ignored it. Helping Alice was far more important.

I didn't have to attack the head for long before the zombie turned into black smoke and disappeared. I heard another dinging noise but, over that, I could hear the moans and snarls of more zombies getting closer. Alice and I bolted from the building and onto the streets. Unfortunately, there were a lot of zombies in the street.

"Come on!", said Alice as she dragged me into an alleyway. We hid behind some trashcans. Alice was breathing hard. "Game or not, that was way too close. We need a better way to hunt zombies, like with a shotgun.", she spoke while watching the street.

I remembered hearing three sound effects by the front door and called up my skill menu. I learned two new skills. I touched the new skill icons to see what they did.

_**Hand-to-Hand Combat - Trainee Passive - Lv:1 Exp:0.0%**_

_You have learned the basics of fighting with your fists. This skill is only in effect when unarmed._

_Effect: Inflict 30% more physical damage, move 5% faster._

_**Strong Blow Active - Lv:1 Exp:0.0%**_

_Deal a powerful physical blow to an enemy._

_Skill damage is linked to Strength._

_Effect: Deal 200% physical damage striking an enemy or deal 300% physical damage to a single enemy by striking a weak point._

"Well, I created some new skills. That should help us out some.", I said as I looked at the other end of the alley. There was a lone zombie standing in front of a chainlink fence at the end of the apartment building. "Alice.", I said as I tugged on her sleeve.

"What?", she asked as I opened the status menu. She watched as I dumped two levels worth of points into Strength. I saw a 'Finalize' button appear as I raised my Strength and tapped it when I was done. Right after that, I heard another sound effect. At the same time, I felt my entire body tingle as something inside me changed.

_*DING!*_

_Due to reaching 25 Strength, a new skill has been created: Warrior's Body - Trainee_

I quickly reopened my skill menu and saw a new icon. I tapped on it and read the description. I could feel Alice looking over my shoulder.

_**Warrior's Body - Trainee Passive - Lv:Max**_

_Your body has begun to harden due to physical training._

_Effect: Increase physical damage by 10%. 5% physical damage reduction._

"Well, I have a few questions on how damage calculation is done.", she said in a snarky manner. I heard something metallic scrapping against the concrete off to our left. When I looked up, I saw the zombie from earlier was staggering towards us with a metal pipe in hand. Alice started to raise her hand but I stopped her.

"I got this.", I said as I started walking towards the zombie. "I need to check out my new skills anyways.", I said with a growing smile. When I got close, the zombie swung the pipe at me. I jumped back to avoid the attack but I could feel the wind from the sing. I quickly glanced at the text above it's head.

_Zombie Warrior in Training_

_Lv.11 Zombie_

"Jun, be careful!", Alice called out from trashcans. The pipe looked like it was a few feet long. The zombie was pretty fast when it attacked but it was pretty slow to move forward. All I had to do was attack right after it missed me. As I predicted, the zombie swung for the fences as I hopped backwards. As I moved back, I heard a sound effect go off.

"Strong Blow!", I called out as I rushed forward and decked the zombie right in mouth. The zombie cried out as it stumbled backwards and fell over. I wasted no time in starting my ground-and-pound game with Strong Blow. I only needed a few Strong Blows to finish it off. After it disappeared, I found a small tooth and ten bucks where it used to be. I took the money and left the tooth.

_You have earned 793 exp._

I ignored the pop-up and turned around to give Alice a thumbs up. "Magic Blast!", she called out. I watched as a small pack of zombies were blown off their feet. "I'm out of MP again!", she called out to me. I saw the zombie's metal pipe was still around. So, I grabbed it and ran to Alice.

"Here.", I said, offering her the pipe. "I'm gonna crack some skulls.", I said as I walked towards the zombies. They still hadn't gotten up. As I checked the zombies' HP bars, one thing I noticed was Alice's magic was doing less damage than my Strong Blow. Despite that, we both only needed to land two skills to take out a single zombie.

We finished off most of the zombies. One of the zombies did manage to get up but I put it back down with Strong Blow. When we were done, Alice and I climbed up the fire escape ladder in the alley. I sat down to rest while Alice waited for her MP to recover. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the relative silence until Alice spoke up.

"After this, I don't think I can keep watching the Walking Dead.", she said with a big smile as she laughed. I opened my eyes to see she had moved next to me. She sat with her legs off to the side and leaned against the railing of the fire escape. That was when I noticed the being from earlier was standing behind Alice.

* * *

**DUN DUN DU~~N! **


	4. Introduction: Team Play

**About half of the second arc has been planned out in general detail. I have to work out a few details before I can begin writing the first draft. After this chapter, the first arc will have two chapters left. Again, those two chapters are already written. I am also pleased to announce there are actual damage calculations in play with my writing.**

* * *

"I did not expect to visit you so soon, Gamer.", said the being. I could feel that the being was furious, despite their voice sounding calm. "First off, I apologize for my hostile demeanor. However, do you recall my explanation of Gaia and the Abyss?", asked the being calmly while radiating an aura of danger.

"Yes.", I said carefully. I glanced at Alice but she was calmly inspecting the being. Specifically, she was focused on the text above the being's head. The text still revealed nothing about the being.

"Now, I neglected to hand you this as I was unsure of what choice you would make.", said the being. A small blue flame sprang to life from it's left hand. The flame disappeared quickly, leaving behind what looked like a small card. "The information on this card will lead you to an information broker of the Abyss. They will be a costly and invaluable method of survival.", said the being as it handed me the card.

"Now, an incident occurred at the house of Darren's friend. He will be home shortly.", said the being as the familiar blue flame engulfed it's body, signaling it's departure. Alice and I looked at each other for a moment. Earlier, I had told her about the being. She had been far more skeptical than me about it's intentions. We stood up and left the dungeon. It only took about two minutes to reach the apartment.

"I wonder what happened.", said Alice as she took off her jacket. She tossed it onto the arm of the couch and headed for the kitchen. I pulled my hair off to the side and sat down on the couch.

"Well, from what I've heard, Mac's mom tends to pick bad boyfriends. He's gotten into a few fights with them. Usually, it's because the boyfriend hit his mom, can't hold a job, or picked a fight with Mac.", I explained as I hugged my legs against my chest. Alice pulled two glasses out of the cupboard and filled them with tap water. She didn't say anything until she made her way back to the couch.

"Jun, sweetheart, you really shouldn't sit like that with a skirt.", she said gently as she offered me a glass. "Pull the back of your skirt up and tuck it between your legs.", she said as she waited for me take my glass. I did as I was told. I took the glass as soon as I was done. "We'll need to get you some new clothes and underwear.", she said as she sat down.

"Both of us need new clothes.", I corrected her before taking a drink of water. I continued after I was done taking a drink. "We also need to find a better way to fight. You're running out of MP way too quick. Punching stuff is great but it's too easy for me to get mobbed.", I said. Alice nodded in agreement as she took a drink.

"Before we can get into that-.", she said as she put her glass on the coffee table. She stripped off her bra, tossed it to the other couch, and let out a sigh of contentment. "I need to relax.", she said as she picked her glass back up.

"Well, I did already make a list of things to try based on MMOs.", I said. I picked up the notebook I had left on the couch. She read over it while we waited for Darren to get home. She was smiling by the time she was done.

"Skill books, huh?", she asked with a smile. "I have an old book on meditation techniques. At one point, I used them to help keep my head in a good place.", she explained as she handed me the notebook. "You'll find the book on the top shelf, left side.", she said.

I got up and headed into her room. I looked at the far side of the room. The bookcase was to the left of her closet. I searched the left side of the top shelf and found the book in question. I was shown a small window when I picked up the book. It was such a surprise that I almost dropped the book.

_Would you like to learn the following skills?_  
_Meditation(Ki)_  
_Ki Manipulation_  
_Basic Understanding of Ki_

"Alice! Skill books are a thing!", I called out as I tapped the 'No' button. It was Alice's book. So, it was only right for Alice to use it. I ran back to the living room and presented the book to Alice. She kept staring off into space. "Alice.", I said softly, starting to get worried. I watched as she snapped back to reality and looked up at me.

"Sorry, I-", she started to say something but let out a sigh instead. She just sat there, like she was trying to hold something back. "I just spaced out for a second.", she said as she looked up at me. I knew she was under a lot of stress. It wasn't easy to work two jobs. Then, someone knocked on the door.

"Here we go.", she whispered as she stood up. I set the book on the couch and followed her to the front door. When Alice opened the door, I saw Darren standing there with a cop. The cop looked Alice over for a moment. We stepped back and the cop came in with Darren.

"Sorry to bother you, miss. Are your parents home?", he asked as he looked around at the apartment. The cop looked lean and fit. He looked like he was the kind of cop I hated running from the most: persistant and able to run for a long time.

"I'm Darren's sister and his guardian. What's this about?", asked Alice, clearly a little nervous. She crossed her arms and waited for the cop to explain why he was there. As I expected, Mac had gotten into another fight with his mom's newest boyfriend. The neighbors heard the screaming match and called the cops. The brawl had started long before the cops got there. Darren wasn't in trouble but Mac was sitting in jail, facing assault charges. Mac's mother was at the hospital with a mild concussion.

"Sorry to have bothered you so late, miss. We couldn't leave him alone at the house since he doesn't live there.", said the cop before leaving. Alice walked Darren to the couch and they sat down. I headed for the bathroom and shut the door. I sat on the toilet and tried to block out their muffled voices. I wanted to give them some space and privacy. After a bit of time, someone knocked on the bathroom door.

"Jun, can you come out? I need your help with something.", said Alice. I got up and opened the door. She pulled me into a loose hug as soon as the door was open. "Don't hide like that. You live here too.", she said softly before letting go of me. She pulled me over to the couch and we sat down next to Darren.

"Alice said something happened to you too. So, what happened?", asked Darren. I started off by inviting Darren into our party. Naturally, he thought the party invite and our explanation of the Abyss was an elaborate joke. Then, I helped him create his own protected space. I used what little MP I had recovered to blow a hole in the wall. Once he calmed down, I taught him how to leave protected space.

"Now that you know a few things, I want you to say 'Create Character'.", I instructed to Darren. I knew he'd make a big deal about it but it felt wrong to hide that command from him. Everyone had something they wanted to change about themselves or their life. Darren gave me an odd look for a moment.

"Create Character.", he said. His jaw dropped once he saw the sheer number of options available to him. "Man, I got full control over everything? Even the thickness of my arms and legs?!", he hesitated for a second and looked at us. "Uh, I think I'm just gonna do this in the bathroom.", he said as he rushed for the bathroom. He was in there for almost half an hour.

"Okay, I'm done.", he said as the bathroom door came open. When he came out, he was holding his pants up with one hand and for a good reason. He had gone from being very overweight to skinny. "Hey, Alice, I need to borrow some jeans since I changed my weight.", he said as he flopped down on the couch. He really did look like he'd fit into Alice's jeans.

"Man, I can't believe this shit is actually real.", he said as Alice headed for the bedroom. He looked me over for a second. "So, you're a girl now?", he asked. I pulled my skirt back, revealing my boxers. "Oh man! Don't show me!", he said as he got up. "Geez, there are times where you are just straight up weird as hell.", he said as he headed for the kitchen. I didn't bother getting up.

Instead, I looked at Alice's book on meditation. I could learn three skills by using it but, in MMOs, skill books disappeared when they were used. She said the book helped her through bad times. I shelved my thoughts when Alice came out of the bedroom with a pair of my boxers, a pair of her jeans, and a belt. Darren took them and headed for the bathroom. Alice and I waited in silence for Darren to finish changing pants. It didn't take long for Darren to change either.

"Man, it can't be right for a man to wear another man's underwear.", said Darren with a shiver as he left the bathroom. "I wanna see what it's like to be a game character. Who wants to kill some monsters?", asked Darren with a enthusiastic smile on his face. I was starting to get excited too. Alice held up her hand.

"Hold that thought.", she said as she went back into her bedroom. She came out with a wooden baseball bat. "I can't believe I didn't think about this earlier.", she said as she offered the bat to Darren. "You'll want it when you're out of MP.", she said.

"Alice, what about the book?", I asked, curious if she remembered what I said earlier. She tipped her head to the side and looked at me. She crossed her arms and looked me over. She smiled after a moment of thinking.

"You use it. I don't need it anymore.", she replied as she headed for the couch. "Besides, I still remember the techniques for meditating.", she said as she bent over to pick it up. "Oh!", she exclaimed when a pop-up appeared in front her. She brought the book over to me. "It seems the skills are more for ki instead of mana anyways. You should definitely use it.", she said as she held out the book.

"Whoa, hold up! We can learn skills from books?!", asked Darren, shocked at the idea. I nodded as I realized I had forgot to tell him that earlier. Alice lightly waved the book up and down to get my attention. I hesitantly took the book, causing a window to pop up.

"But, Alice, this is your book. It might disappear when I use it.", I said, frowning. I really didn't want to use her book. I had already been given so much. She grabbed my hand and moved my finger over the 'Yes' button.

"Go ahead and use it.", she said. I looked at the window and hesitated again. She gave a weary sigh. "Jun, just use the book.", she said, smiling. I tapped the 'Yes' button and a second pop-up appeared.

_This skill book requires 15 Strength and 15 Intelligence to be used._

"Of course there would be stat requirements.", grumbled Darren. I set the book on the counter. I raised my hand and created a dungeon. "Man, about time we get to go killing some monsters.", he said as he readied his bat. It didn't take long for us to hear zombies moaning and moving around in the hallways. "Oh, that sound is creepy as fuck.", he said with a shiver. Alice slapped him in the back of the head.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to use the F-word?", she snapped, arms crossed while she glared at Darren. Darren muttered something under his breath. It wasn't my first time seeing Alice scold him for using certain cuss words. I also doubted this would be the last time she did.

"Let's go.", I said as I headed for the front door. I stopped at the door and listened. I didn't hear anything on the other side. Darren chose that moment to speak up.

"What are we waitin' for?", asked Darren. A zombie slammed into the front door, snarling and moaning. I jerked back and quickly pulled away from the door. Alice stood in front of us, a nasty smirk on her face.

"Watch and learn, little brother.", she said with a hint of arrogance. "Magic Blast.", she said calmly. As before, her spell destroyed the door and door frame. She entered the hallway with confidence. We followed behind her. A small group of zombies were shambling towards us from the hallway on the right. The path to the stairwell was blocked off.

"Alice, knock them down with Magic Blast. Darren and I will take care of them.", I said as I got ready to dash forward. Alice blasted the zombies and we charged forward, clubbing and punching as many zombies as we could. One zombie grabbed my leg and pulled.

"Darren!", I screeched. Darren repeatedly smashed the zombie in the back of the head. He pulled me away from the two remaining zombies. Once we had some distance, he raised his hand up. I quickly got behind him.

"Magic Blast!", he yelled. His blue fireball put down the two zombies. Two fives and a tooth were our rewards for the trouble. We headed for the stairwell when I saw something move off to my left. "Get this fuckin' thing offa me!", he yelled. A zombie grabbed Darren from the hallway on our left. They tumbled to the ground before Alice or I could anything but that didn't stop us from acting.

"Strong Blow!", I yelled as I kicked the zombie in the ribs. My attack sent the zombie skidding to Darren's side. The zombie bit into Darren's arm. I kicked it with another Strong Blow and broke the zombie's hold on Darren. The zombie started to pick itself up off the floor.

"Shit, that thing almost killed me! I damn near got no HP!", yelled Darren. I watched Alice grab him and rush him down the stairwell. I looked back at the zombie and checked its level, concerned by what Darren said.

_Lv.8 Zombie_

The zombie started slowly walking towards me. I had seen the zombies' lunge enough time to know the lunge was an attack in itself. They always started with a lunge and followed up with trying to bite their target. I had to hit it with a Strong Blow during it's lunge attack or I'd get grabbed and bit. I heard a sound effect go off.

_A new skill has been created: Observe._

"Observe.", I said as I slowly backed up from the zombie. A large pop-up window appeared in front of me.

_Zombie Lv.8_  
_HP: 93/200_

_A corpse that has been reanimated through some means. The zombie is a mindless entity with a strong grudge against the living. A zombie's grip is powerful and not easily broken. Zombies will lunge at a target to grab them. Once a zombie has grabbed a target, they will proceed to bite the target._

I turned my attention back to the zombie. It had only gotten a little closer to me while I was reading. I started walking towards the zombie. I would only get one shot at this. I knew I could die if I messed up the timing. The zombie lunged at me.

"Strong Blow!", I yelled as I swung for the zombie's face. I felt a joy unlike anything from playing games overtake me as my attack connected. My attack finished the zombie. After the zombie disappeared, I picked up five bucks from where it had been. I heard the shuffling and moans of zombies behind me. When I turned around, there were three more zombies coming out from a corridor next to the stairwell.

I looked over the hallway railing and hopped over the railing. I planted my feet inside the railing slats and waited for the zombies to move past the stairwell. I jumped as soon as the stairwell was clear and landed on the first floor. I looked up and, as I thought, the zombies were heading for the stairs. I felt and heard multiple explosions rock the building. Several pop-up windows appeared in front of me.

_You have gained 491 exp._  
_You have gained 474 exp._  
_You have gained 489 exp._  
_You have gained 457 exp._  
_You have gained a level._

"Oh no.", I whispered after glancing at my party window. Alice and Darren had practically no HP or MP left. I dashed through the front door of the building and out onto the sidewalk. I heard something explode off to my left, causing another pop-up to appear. I ran towards the alleyway Alice and I had hidden in earlier. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw they had climbed up the fire escape.

"Having fun yet, Darren?", I asked as I walked into the alley. The alley was clear of zombies. So, I started collecting the money that had dropped from the zombies they had killed.

"Man, don't get me started! We almost died just gettin' up here.", said Darren. I looked up to see him leaning on the railing, bat in hand. Alice was sitting on the steps of the fire escape. She was watching the street.

"Jun, look at the street.", called out Alice. I turned around and saw a few zombies heading straight for me. I cracked my knuckles and left the alley. "Jun! What are you doing?", she yelled. I could hear the calmness in her voice. The Mind of the Gamer was getting a work out today.

"I'm gonna go level up.", I said as I started making a mental kill order. There were five zombies coming for me. One was close to the sidewalk but the others were halfway across the street and huddled close together. The first zombie would be easy but the others would be difficult to seperate. "Strong Blow!", I said as I interrupted the zombie's lunge. I watched the zombie stagger backwards but it refused to fall down.

I decked the zombie with another Strong Blow, finishing it off. I had no loot to show for my trouble. I noted the locations of the other four zombies. They were huddled a bit closer together now. Some of the other zombies in the street had noticed me as well. Fortunately, the tight herd of zombies gave me an idea.

"How are you two on MP?", I yelled. It didn't take long for more zombies to notice me due to my yelling. Now, there was a group of five zombies on the other end of the street coming for me. Still, it didn't matter how many zombies there were as long as I could run a literal circle around them.

"I've got enough for three spells!", she yelled from the fire escape. I smiled as I counted up the zombies. There were four zombies in front of me, six off to my right, and five to my left. That made fifteen zombies in total that were shambling and staggering towards me. My tactic was frowned upon by the rules of a dozen or so MMOs but it would definitely make things easier here.

I ran down the street and started herding the group of six zombies. I looked over my shoulder and, as expected, the other zombies were still moving towards me. I ran in a circle around the two groups of zombies, drawing them closer together. I lured the two groups closer and closer together until they were side by side. Then, I dragged them towards the group of five that managed to get close to me. I ran to the alley and watched my undead entourage slowly follow behind me.

"Jun, what are you doing?", asked Darren once I got to the alley. I looked up and smiled at him. I pointed at the batch of zombies I rounded up.

"I'm kiting and grouping the zombies until you and Alice can nuke them in one go.", I said with a laugh. Darren just shook his head. Alice got up and headed to the fire escape railing. Alice and Darren took care of the zombies once they got close. I collected the money drops and dealt with any lone stragglers that survived. Meanwhile, Alice and Darren waited and recovered their MP. The zombies stopped respawning once the sun started coming up.

I kept a close eye out for respawning zombies, to be safe. At the same time, Darren and Alice climbed down from the fire escape. They gave me a hard time for my more-than-cheap tactic as we left the dungeon. We tiptoed up the stairwell to avoid disturbing Old Man Crocker, who was sleeping in his room. Once we were in the apartment, I reached into my pocket to pull out all the money I had gathered from our kills. Except, my pockets were empty.

"We may have a problem.", I said slowly. "I don't know where all the money went. I know I was putting it in my pocket but it's not there anymore.", I explained, feeling a little sad.

"Ha, did you check your inventory?", asked Darren. My eyes went wide. I didn't even check for that feature!

"Inventory.", I said, hoping Darren was onto something. I breathed a sigh of relief when a window opened up. I saw a window section for my equipment. Below that, I saw a money counter. "So, we farmed about a hundred bucks.", I announced to them. Darren gave me a high-five.

"That's about what? Three grand a month? Hell yea!", said Darren, clearly overly excited. Alice walked up behind him and put her arm around him.

"Don't forget, little brother. All of us need new clothes. Also, we've got rent, groceries, and some other stuff to buy as well.", said Alice sternly. "And Jun, don't think I haven't noticed that you leveled up twice. I won't force you to use my book but I really do think you should use it.", she said. I sighed and opened up my status menu. I felt like I didn't have a choice when she put it like that.

_Name: Jun Tachibana_  
_Occupation: The Gamer_  
_Level: 6 Exp: 49.01%_  
_Age: 15_  
_HP: 540/540_  
_MP: 70/70_  
_Strength: 26_  
_Agility: 15_  
_Intelligence: 5_  
_Wisdom: 4_  
_Luck: 4_  
_Points: 10_

"Fine, I'll use it if you think it'll help.", I said as I raised my Intelligence. I felt something change in my brain as soon as I pressed 'Finalize'. "Oh man, that feels so weird. It's like something just rewired my brain.", I said as I massaged my temples. I headed for the kitchen, where I left the book earlier.

"Hey, Alice, what stats do you think I should raise?", asked Darren as I picked up the book. Like before, I saw the same window open up and ask if I wanted to learn three skills. Again, I hesitated but I still pressed 'Yes'. The book glowed with a soft yellow light and broke up into fragments. The fragments of the book flowed into my body. I could feel myself learning the knowledge behind the skills as the fragments entered my body. A pop-up window appeared in front of me.

_You have learned the following skills:_  
_Meditation(Ki)_  
_Ki Manipulation_  
_Basic Understanding of Ki_

"Now that this is dealt with, I'm going to get some sleep.", said Alice as she headed for the bedroom. She stopped at the doorway and turned around. "I suggest you guys do the same. You can cry all you want but I'm waking both of you up at noon.", she said sternly. We knew she meant business since it involved our sleep schedules.

"Alice, what about our jobs?", I asked as she went to shut her door. She paused and came back out. She gave me a cocked eyebrow with one hand on her hip. After a moment, she crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame.

"Screw 'em. We made more money today from zombies than we would at our jobs.", she said. She smiled, headed back into her room, and shut the door. Darren just shook his head.

"I ain't even tired. I'm not even a little freaked out that I was almost a zombie's manwich.", he said as he headed for the couch. I followed behind him. We pulled the cushions off and pulled out the bed. It didn't take long for either of us to get comfortable and fall asleep, despite Darren's protests. I woke up to the sound of someone beating on the front door.

"Alicia Rockwell, open up! It's the landlord. Now open up!", yelled an old man. I moaned and rolled over. "God damn it, Alicia, I know you're in there! I didn't see you leave for work this morning!", he yelled, followed by more pounding on the door. I heard Alice's door slam into the wall. She marched across the living room to the front door.

I picked myself up off the bed and sat up. With bleary eyes, I watched Alice open the door and step outside. She shut the door behind her. Everyone in the apartment knew it was always a bad thing when Old Man Crocker was at the front door.

* * *

**Crocker is an asshole. That is all.**


	5. Introduction: Advanced Skills

**I tried to think of something to say here...but I got nothing.**

* * *

I couldn't hear anything that Alice was saying but I could hear Old Man Crocker. It was kind of funny, imagining that Crocker had finally lost his marbles. "I said, you missed the due date for rent! Now, pack your shit and get the fuck outta my building!", yelled Crocker. That wasn't so funny.

"Hell no, you ain't gettin' your deposit back! I've had to fix too much shit in that apartment since you moved in!", he yelled. I heard Darren mumble something in his sleep. "You got until the end of the month to pack your shit and move out!", he yelled. This time, I could sort-of hear Alice talking. "I don't care if you can make the damn payment! You missed the due date!", he yelled. I heard him start walking down the corridor, cane in hand.

Alice came back inside. Our eyes met and she just shook her head. She made her way to me and sat on the edge of the bed. She buried her face in her hands. I moved to the edge of the bed and pulled her into a hug.

"I forgot about the rent. After everything yesterday, I just-I forgot.", she said as she hugged me. "I'll put on some clean clothes and we'll get some stuff that fits.", she said as she pulled away. "We'll have to take some time away from grinding to find a new place.", she said as she stood up. I got out of bed and headed towards the laundry room. I had remembered the laundry when Alice mentioned clean clothes.

I had completely forgotten about the laundry after starting the all-night grind. The clothes in the washer had gone sour from being wet for so long. I started them up again and pulled the rest of my clothes out of the dryer. Then, I realized there was no point in rewashing the laundry. We all needed new clothes. I leaned against the dryer, waiting for Alice.

It wasn't long before Alice was ready. We left the apartment and took the bus towards the outskirts of the downtown shopping area. We were never down here for any kind of shopping, besides groceries, so I was a little nervous. We went through several clothing stores, picking up a few shirts and pants here and there. I counted the total amounts and realized she had spent over two hundred on clothes for us. It bothered me that Alice was spending so much on me.

Afterwards, she took me to a store that was nothing but underwear. She tried on a bunch of different bras. I milled around while she kept picking things out to try on. Eventually, she got me to try some on as well. She explained a lot of things to me about how to choose what to wear. All I could think of was how much my choices would cost her. She spent over two hundred on both of us there as well.

After that, we went by a convenience store for a newspaper. Alice said it was so she could see what was listed for rent. From there, we took the bus to a nearby park. At Alice's request, we changed our clothes in the park bathroom. Initially, I went with a black tank top and a red and black checkered skirt.

Alice rejected the tank top, saying it wasn't appropriate for apartment hunting. Instead, she picked out a blue denim jacket, black shirt, and bra for me. She helped me with putting on the bra. After that, we sat on a park bench while Alice skimmed the listings. She went through the list, marking potential places with a familiar chewed-up pen.

Once she was done, we left the park and checked out a number of apartments. The majority of them were almost as run-down as our old apartment. Alice scratched off more and more apartments as we went from place to place. We stopped back at the shopping district for lunch. We went to Hubway and Alice bought lunch for us. I was starting to feel really bad about all the money she was spending on me.

"Hey, are you okay?", she asked out the blue. I nodded and took a bite of my sub. "You haven't said much since we left this morning. You sure everything is okay?", she asked again. I nodded again and she dropped the subject. I didn't want to bring it up here.

We finished our subs in silence. Alice kept glancing between me and her paper the rest of the time we were there. We left Hubway and checked out two more places. Unfortunately, the paper neglected to mention how expensive the places were. So, we passed on them as well. We were left with slim pickings at this point. We went to one last place before calling it a day.

We rode the bus all way across town. We had to get off a few times and move to another bus to get there. We got off the bus once we were close and walked a few blocks. I noticed there was a park nearby. Alice pointed out that such places can increase the cost of an apartment. We made it to our destination with no problems, other than a long bus ride.

Once we were there, I realized this place would likely be too expensive for us as well. The three story building was made of brick and mortar. I could see clean white curtains hanging on the other side of the windows. The second and third floors had balconies. There wasn't a bunch of trash blowing around on the sidewalk. The alleys weren't littered with half a dozen of overflowing trashcans. Most of all, there were only a few cars parked by the curb.

Alice didn't hesitate to go inside. I followed right behind her. Once we were inside, I felt the now familiar feeling of entering a protected space. All the noise from outside disappeared along with the mid-day summer heat. At the same time, I saw a small window appear in front of me.

_You have entered an instant dungeon._

We were in a white hallway with pale cream carpet. There was an opening to our right. In the opening, there were two chairs facing a desk. The desk had a computer monitor, mouse, and keyboard on it. There were two doors further up the hallway. I assumed they led to apartments.

A being of blue energy appeared in front of us. The energy quickly disapated and, in it's place, was a man with short black hair. I couldn't help but be a little scared. Granted, even people of the Abyss needed a place to live. It would be the first time any of us had met someone from the Abyss, asides from the mystery being.

He held in his right hand a wooden staff adorned with a red gem of an unreasonable size at the tip. He was dressed in a plain white shirt that was tucked into tan khakis. He was about as tall as Alice used to be, if not a little taller. He didn't have any facial hair. Despite his height, he didn't look to be very strong. My opinion changed the moment I looked at the text above his head.

_(Apple Creek Manager)_  
_Lv.39 Jay Wilson_

"Sorry about the wait. Are you looking for a place to rent or is this a business call?", he asked in a deep voice. I could feel my face getting hot. Alice stepped in front of me.

"We're looking for a place to rent. What are your prices for two and three bedroom apartments?", she asked the same question I've heard all throughout the day. Jay stood there for a second, looking us over.

"Two bed, one bath is twenty-four hundred with a deposit of twelve hundred. Three bed, two bath is thirty-six hundred with a deposit of eighteen hundred. Rent is due on the fifteenth of every month. If you miss a payment, you are allowed up to two days grace. After that, you will be evicted on the spot.", he replied smoothly. I felt my jaw drop a little over the prices.

"Let's see your two bed, one bath.", said Alice. Jay offered his hand to us. Alice and I looked at each other. We hesitated on taking his hand. I was wary for two reasons: I didn't know or trust him.

"Teleportation is only dangerous when used by an inexperienced novice.", he said with a warm smile. "I promise I won't teleport us half-way into a wall or through the floor.", he said with a chuckle. We took his hand. I felt my face get even hotter. Moments later, we were somewhere else.

I looked around and saw we were in a hallway, similar to the one we were just standing in. The walls were painted white. At the end of the hallway, there was a potted plant sitting underneath a window on a small desk. The carpet was a pale cream and felt soft. We let go of Jay's hand. He fished a set of keys out of his pocket.

"Now, I do keep spare keys to all the locks for maitenance purposes. Also, three things to bear in mind. I will never enter an apartment that is being rented without prior notice. However, I will enter the apartment if I have reason to believe you are in immediate danger. I respect the privacy of my tenants as long as they respect mine.", he said as he went through the ring of keys. After finding the right key, he unlocked the door and led us in.

"You have an updated kitchen to the left with an electric stove, microwave, and two lane sink. The refrigerator and freezer will be scrubbed, bleached, and cleaned before you move in. There are six cupboards for dishes, small cookware, and cups. There are four drawers for silverware and cooking utensils. Beneath that, you have two double door cabinets for pots and pans. The only downside is that it feels a little cramped with more than two people.", he said as he showed us into the kitchen. Afterwards, he led us to the living room.

"Here, you have a co-joined living room and dining room. As you can see, the apartment comes prefurnished. There is an open wall between the kitchen and dining room for serving up food. The dinner table can seat up to eight people comfortably. The living room comes with two black leather couches, complete with pull-out beds, and an entertainment center complete with a thirty-two inch flatscreen TV. Please, take a seat and see for yourself how everything comes together."

We slowly sat down. The first thing I noticed was how cushy and soft the couch was. I started to look around at everything but stopped when Jay sat next to me. My blush returned in full force. All I could do was stare at my hands. I heard Jay give a sigh of contentment.

"I'm sorry. I can't be hyper professional all the time, like my sister.", he said, his arm hung over his staff. "Yet, I never get tired of showing off the apartments we worked so hard to bring together.", he said, ending the statement with a laugh. I glanced at him for a moment. He was really handsome. He pointed his staff at the sliding glass doors next to the TV.

"On the balcony, you'll find a high efficiency washer and dryer tucked away in a closet on the right hand side. The balcony has an overhang so no need to worry about getting wet during the rainy times.", he said with a relaxed smile. He motioned at the remote sitting on the coffee table in front of us. "The TV comes with a DVR remote and cable box. You can record your favorite shows and watch them when you have the time.", he said before standing up with his staff in hand. We got up and followed him into a side hallway attached to the living room.

"The entire building has central heat and air. This is the control box for tempature control in the apartment. Then, you have the two bedrooms on either side of the bathroom. The master bedroom has a king bed while the regular bedroom has a queen bed. Both bedrooms have their own closet space. Now, I'll give you ladies some time alone to talk and look around.", he finished with an exaggerated bow before teleporting to somewhere else.

Alice and I looked at each other in silence. She headed into the master bedroom and laid down on the bed. She left out a soft moan. I watched as she sank into the mattress. She laid there, motionless.

I looked around the room. I could see the closet door off to the far right. The king bed was in the middle of the room with the headboard against the wall. There were nightstands on both sides of the bed, each with a lamp. To my left, there was a large dresser with two columns of five drawers. The dresser was almost as tall as me.

"The bed alone is worth the price of the apartment. Seriously, Jun, try it out. It's like laying on a cloud!", said Alice excitedly as she sat up. She went through the whole apartment, looking at everything. She fell in love with the detachable shower wand. The other bedroom was just as nice and almost as spacious as the master bedroom. We sat on the couch together when she was done looking.

"This place is so nice. I think Darren will love it here.", she said, happy as she kicked back in the couch recliner. She rolled over onto her side to look at me. "What about you?", she asked. She was smiling the whole time we looked around. I cringed as I asked a single question.

"It costs so much. Can we afford it?", I asked quietly, afraid I would ruin her good mood. Alice pushed down the foot rest and scooted across the couch to sit next to me. She pulled me into a loose hug.

"My dad passed away about two years ago. He had a small life insurance policy and some money saved up. Most of it went to his funeral. There's enough left to make the deposit as well as first and last months rent. After that, we'll be short of covering the next month due too food and stuff. I think we can easily make it up before the due date. By then, I think we'll be strong enough to afford this place with no worries.", she explained.

"What about all the clothes and stuff we bought?", I asked. I really just wanted to shut up but I was too worried about everything. "And what about lunch? How can we afford all of this?", I asked quietly, more than a little worried. We were barely scrapping by at fifteen hundred for rent at Crocker's place. Alice hugged me tightly for a moment and kissed my forehead.

"Well, I pulled the money for clothes and lunch from rent that would have gone to Crocker. He didn't want the money, so screw him. I spent it because we haven't done anything for ourselves in a long time. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I would have said something if I thought you'd worry about it so much.", she explained, making me a little better. "This is what's been bothering you, right?", she asked. I smiled and nodded.

We talked it over a bit longer and, in the end, we decided to take the apartment. We learned that there were finance firms in the Abyss that handled a variety of things, such as paying rent. Jay was kind enough to give us a card to one place called The Institute. He went over the tenant rules and explained that we weren't allowed to create our own protected spaces in the apartment building. Jay explained that he and his sister would protect us from others in the Abyss, unless they were appropriately bribed. The only other exception to that was if we made an enemy of other organizations. There just one problem: Jay couldn't take payments from a normal bank as it would leave something called a paper trail.

That turn of events led to us visiting the downtown area to see The Institute. The outside of the building was made of concrete and was five stories tall. We were pulled into protected space as soon as we passed through the glass double doors. Alice did all the talking with the receptionist. Before long, we were seated in a private office with a woman who represented The Institute.

She explained that The Institute worked as an investment firm in the normal world. At the same time, The Institute handled false paper trails and account management for people of the Abyss. She went over the monthly account fees and when they would be taken out of our account. They had state of the art magical and barrier security to stop people from spying on our account. All of their accounts were also linked to an online site called the Abyss Auction.

They took over Alice's normal bank account for a reasonable fee. Then, her money was routed to our new account with The Institute. We were given three cell phones with active service plans. The phones came with an app to check our account balance at any time. The monthly fee also covered the cost of our phones and the service plan. It wasn't until we left the building that we realized the sun was already setting.

We stopped at a pizza place and picked up dinner. Alice didn't want to bother with grocery shopping since we were moving. The pizzas were cold by the time the bus took us to our old apartment. Darren was mad that we left without letting him know we were okay. He forgave us when he saw we brought pizza and new clothes for everyone. After all, it was pretty rare for us to be able to afford much of anything.

After we ate, we settled down for the night. Darren and Alice were researching the stuff we learned today. Meanwhile, I sat on the floor, next to the couch. I was going through my skills. I had noticed something odd about the skills I learned from Alice's book.

I didn't just learn the skills. I could feel my ki circulating through my body. I was even able to control my ki in various ways without using any skills. I could gather my ki or just let it flow freely within me. What bothered me the most was the fact that I had a new yellow bar displayed in my party window. "Status", I said, curious to know what my new bar was for.

Name: Jun Tachibana  
Occupation: The Gamer  
Level: 6 Exp: 49.01%  
Age: 15  
HP: 340/340  
KP: 50/50  
MP: 170/170  
Strength: 26  
Agility: 15  
Intelligence: 15  
Wisdom: 4  
Luck: 4  
Points: 0

"KP? Ki Points?", I mused as I nibbled on the tip of my thumb. I had noticed the skills I learned kept mentioning Ki. So, I was pretty sure I was right. The real question was: how could I take advantage of this? "Skills.", I said. I tapped on one of the skills I learned from Alice's book.

**_Basic Understanding of Ki (Passive) - Lv:Max_**  
_You have a working understanding of ki and how it flows through your body. Through this knowledge, you have unlocked your ability to utilize ki._  
_Effect: Latent ki potential has been unlocked._

"Did this skill unlock my ability to feel my own ki?", I asked as I switched thumbs. I sat in silence while debating whether or not my guess was right. It was hard to figure out. Eventually, I tapped on another skill I learned.

**_Ki Manipulation (Passive) - Lv:Max_**  
_You have a working understanding of ki and how it flows through your body. You are able to use and direct your ki in a variety of manners._  
_Effect: Allows for ki-based actions._

"They're both passive skills and they can't be leveled up. Ki-based actions, huh?", I mused as I stopped chewing on my thumbs. They were starting to feel raw. I tapped on the third skill I learned.

**_Meditation(Ki) (Active) - Lv:1 Exp:0.0%_**  
_You are able to replenish your ki through meditation._  
_Effect: Restore 1 KP per second._

"This suggests there's a way for me to actively use ki for fighting. I already know how to move my ki around inside my body. But, how do I use it?", I wondered. I was interrupted by the sound of something knocking on glass. I had to be hallucinating when I saw what was at the window. There was a tiny UFO-looking disc-like thing floating in the air outside the window.

"Alice, Darren, I think there's something weird outside the window.", I called out. Alice came out of the bedroom. She headed straight for the window and opened it. The UFO thing flew into the apartment. There was a small rope-like string attached to the UFO. I noticed there four books bound together by the string.

"Your payment has been received. Thank you for using the Abyss Auction.", said the UFO thing in a mechanical voice. After that, it flew out the window and it was gone. Alice untied the books and picked one of them up. I saw a window pop up and she tapped something. The book shined for a moment and broke apart, similar to when I used Alice's book. She repeated the action with another book.

"Darren, come get your books.", she called out. Alice shook her head and let out a small sigh when there was no reply from the bedroom. She looked at me and smiled. "Man, talk about a rush of knowledge.", she said as she headed for the bedroom. She leaned into the bedroom and tossed the books to Darren. After that, she turned back to me and broke into a huge smile.

"Darren and I looked up the Abyss Auction site. They sell all kinds of books. So, we bought two books for a spell called Magic Missle and two more for meditating as a way to recover our MP.", she explained. I remembered hearing about the Abyss Auction from the woman at The Institute.

"What about Magic Blast?", I asked. I was confused as to why they needed a new spell. Sure, I knew a mage needed more than one spell to survive but Magic Blast seemed like it did well for our levels.

"Well, with Magic Blast, I feel like I'm just gathering mana and releasing it. It just doesn't feel very economical. The feeling is even worse when I'm not using the skill name to cast it.", she said as she sat next to me. I froze for a moment and thought about what she had just said. I felt a lightbulb turn on.

"Alice, you're a genius!", I said, excited over my idea. I kissed her on the cheek and held up my palm. "Create Instant Dungeon!", I said, itching to try my idea. The dungeon spread out and everything went quiet, except for Darren.

"Hey, what's goin' on? Why are we in a dungeon?", yelped Darren from the bedroom. I got up and ran for the front door. I recalled a simple diagram about ki control from Alice's book. "Yo, seriously, what are you doin'?", asked Darren.

I took a stance I had never used before. Yet, it felt as if I had known the stance for my entire life. I aligned my feet with my shoulders. I held up my left arm as if it were a slightly crooked 'L'. My right hand stopped at my stomach, around the center of my ki. I slightly bent my knees to lower my center of gravity. Then, I walked myself through my theory of using ki.

I gathered my ki into my right hand, causing it to swell. I focused on condensing it to a single point: the front of my fist, near my knuckles. My fist started to give off small white tendrils of ki. As I stepped forward, I withdrew my left hand to my side and threw a punch with my right hand. I released my ki just before my punch made contact with the door. I blew a hole the size of a bowling ball in the front door. The shockwave from the blast of ki blew me off my feet.

A pop-up window appeared in front me as a zombie's arm came through the hole I made. I could hear the zombie's moans and snarls as it reached for me but it's efforts were futile.

_A new custom skill has been created._  
_Would you like to name the custom skill?_

As I sat up, I heard a spell name being said. When I looked up, I saw a small condensed magic bolt blow a small hole through the door. Another small window appeared in front of me as Darren helped me stand up. I already knew what I wanted to name my new skill. I didn't even care if it made me feel even more like an anime character.

"Yes.", I said as I got my balance back. The window disappeared and was replaced by another window.

_Please state the name of the new custom skill._

"Mega Ex.", I said with satisfaction. I didn't care that my attack was based on an attack from Kurokami. I didn't mind the irony that I even slightly resembled Kuro. My breakthrough was just so exciting! I held up my hand. "Escape from Instant Dungeon.", I said, quite pleased with myself. Alice turned me around to face her as the dungeon faded.

"Jun, what the hell was that?", she asked. I looked at her and Darren. I couldn't wait to share my realizations with them. This was a huge breakthrough! I just couldn't contain myself!

"Skills!", I said excitedly. I quickly tapped on the icon of my new skill. I whirled around so they could read the skill description from over my shoulder.

**_Mega Ex (Active) - Lv:1 Exp:0.0%_**  
_Cost: 30 Ki_  
_You generate a strong ki-infused punch by pooling and condensing your ki into your fist. Skill damage is linked to Strength._  
_Effect: Inflict 600% ki-based damage._

"I've been trying for about the past hour to figure out how to use the skills from your book.", I explained as I looked at Alice. "Their descriptions weren't very straightforward. Then, you mentioned Magic Blast and I realized-", I tried to explain but Alice interrupted me.

"Jun, slow down. Let's sit on the couch and take a few deep breathes. Okay?", she spoke as she guided me to the couch. The three of us sat on the couch together. "Now, take a few deep breathes to calm down.", she said as she and Darren sat beside me. I took a few deep breaths. "Now, from the top, what was that?", she asked.

"Yea, I wanna know too, man. What the hell did you do?", asked Darren. He was even more confused than Alice. I couldn't blame him for it. The theory was simple but the execution was a little complex.

"Well, I unlocked the ability to use ki when I used your book. It was hard to figure out how to use ki until you mentioned Magic Blast.", I explained. They both nodded and waited for me to go on. "You said Magic Blast was just releasing a bunch of mana with no real clear direction. So, I tried to pool, condense, and then release my ki through a single point. This means we can manually use ki and mana to create new skills!", I said, smiling as I looked at my right hand.

Alice sat back as she processed my explanation. I could definitely see her mind working overtime. She looked at her palm for a moment and smiled. She stood up with a wicked looking smile. Her palm went up into the air.

"Create Instant Dungeon.", she said happily. The dungeon spread out all around us. She leveled her palm at the fridge. I thought nothing was happening until I noticed her clothes were gently moving. It was like her clothes were being moved by a small breeze.

Then, she closed her hand as if she were pointing at the fridge. Her pointing finger started to faintly give off a blue light. Then, the faint light erupted and shot off as a spinning bolt of mana. The spinning bolt struck the fridge and blew it clear through the wall. When the dust cleared, I saw Alice's magic attack had kept going after it struck the fridge. There was a large hole in the wall behind the fridge.

"Wooh!", she said, sounding tired. "I didn't think that would work.", she said with a laugh at the end. I took a quick look at the party HUD. Alice had just used most of her MP. That didn't sit well with me. There was a small window in front of her like there had been for me.

_A new custom skill has been created._  
_Would you like to name the custom skill?_

"Yes.", she said, smiling despite looking tired. The window was replaced by another window.

_Please state the name of the new custom skill._

"Spirit Gun!", she said triumphantly as she glanced at me. I bit back a curse. During my earlier excitement, I didn't take a moment to consider Alice would recognize the name Mega Ex. "Do you approve, Kuro?", she asked, slightly taunting me. I bit back another curse as my face started getting hot. A window popped up in front of me.

You have earned the nickname "Kuro".

I looked up and saw the text "Jun 'Kuro' Tachibana" floating above my head. I let out a soft groan. This couldn't be any more embarrassing.

"Okay, I can tell something is goin' on but I don't know what.", said Darren cautiously. He looked at us as if we had lost our marbles.

"I named my spell after an anime attack, just like Jun did.", said Alice as she grinned me. She was trying so hard not to laugh at me. I should have known she'd recognize the attack name 'Mega Ex'. After all, we both loved watching Kurokami. Darren made a sound of pure disgust.

"Seriously? You guys just created skills based on some weeabo shit? I bet it ain't even that powerful. Go on, pull it up.", he said, passing instant judgement on us. I had almost forgotten that Dragonball Z was the only anime Darren liked. Alice called up her skill menu and pulled up the description for Spirit Gun.

"Holy shit!", the three of us yelled in unison. I was vaguely aware of Alice looking at us and then back at the skill description. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Alice had just created an incredibly powerful skill!

**_Spirit Gun (Active) - Lv:1 Exp:0.0%_**  
_Cost: 200 Mana_  
_Create a spinning bullet of pure, highly condensed mana. Skill damage is linked to Intelligence. Skill may pierce initial target._  
_Range: 75M_  
_Effect: Deals 1200% magic damage. 50% chance to pierce target. 50% decrease in spell damage for each pierced target._

* * *

**Is the skill actually useful?**


	6. Introduction: Boss Battle

**The chapter would have been up like six hours ago but I fell asleep in my chair. :(  
**

* * *

It didn't take long for our initial shock and excitement over Alice's new skill to fade away. Two hundred MP was a massive drawback for continuous spellcasting. If anything, Alice's Spirit Gun would only be a last ditch effort at having an ace in the hole for a long time. After all, ten points of Intelligence only amounted to one hundred MP. I had noticed that when I raised my Intelligence to use Alice's book.

Another thing I figured out is that none of my attributes affected my maximum KP. The only way to raise it was through using my Meditation skill. I had to suppress stat-based notifications due to how distracting the noise was. I easily raised my maximum KP over a hundred. As I did that, I discovered a second benefit to meditating: it was relaxing and helped me think.

I thought about the things that had happened since I became The Gamer. I didn't know who The Being was or why they even cared about my situation. I didn't know the full set of rules for creating new skills. I knew I could raise my stats without leveling up, since I somehow gained a point in Wisdom. I just didn't know how to make them increase. However, what I thought about the most was how Darren and Alice had almost died yesterday.

Would we respawn after dying? If so, was there a penalty for dying? How long would it take to respawn? The first thing I decided was that we wouldn't fight our way to the streets. A lack of planning was our first mistake. Our second mistake was that we didn't take enough time to learn how skills work after leveling up. It seemed my Meditation skill recovered one additional ki point per skill level.

The other thing I noticed was that my maximum KP started going up really fast again after Meditation gained a level. The effect was almost short-lived enough that I could call it a dwindling effect. I suspected I would eventually have to work really hard just to raise my maximum KP by a few points. I also spent time thinking about the best way to use my ki.

I was stumped on how to use ki for anything beyond attacking enemies. After all, I wouldn't always be able to interrupt an enemy's attack. I had to be able to tank the damage I took or I'd just be a glass cannon. I'd be no different from Alice and Darren, if that were the case. Our party needed to be balanced if we wanted to survive. The only way I'd learn something is if I experimented with ki.

"Disband Party.", I said. Earlier, I had unintentionally drew them into a dungeon. I didn't want to dissolve the party but it was the only way they'd get some sleep. "Settings.", I said. I changed my dungeon ID back to zero to make an empty dungeon. "Create Instant Dungeon.", I said with my palm facing the ceiling. Two windows appeared and a sound effect went off as I entered the dungeon.

_You have entered an instant dungeon._  
_Create Instant Dungeon has gained a level._

"Oh.", I said, pleasantly surprised. I turned my attention back my purpose for being in protected space. "Right, I need new ways to use ki.", I said as I stood there. I needed to learn more than what the book taught me about ki. The only way to do that would be to use my ki. I practiced Mega Ex by saying the skill name and without saying anything. I wanted to see if there was a difference in the result.

The first thing I noticed was I used up varying amounts of ki when I didn't call out Mega Ex. Likewise, the amount of power displayed by Mega Ex varied in the same manner. I easily noticed that a manual Mega Ex also released a strong force that threw me back a few feet. The subtlest difference I noticed was that I didn't gain skill exp for Mega Ex while testing things. My tests with calling out my skill names yielded predictable results.

Each skill use consumed the same amount of ki. There was no variance in power output. Mega Ex didn't have the expected knock-back force when I called its name. Finally, I gained enough skill exp to push Mega Ex to level two. I called up my skill menu and tapped on Mega Ex.

**Mega Ex (Active) - Lv:2 Exp:7.91%**  
_Cost: 30 Ki_  
_You generate a strong Ki-infused punch by pooling and condensing your Ki into your fist. Skill damage is linked to Strength._  
_Effect: Inflict 700% ki-based damage._

"So, leveling my skills increases the damage dealt. But, the cost doesn't seem to increase.", I mused as I nibbled on the tip of my thumb. I did some meditation to recover my spent ki and pushed my maximum KP to three hundred. Meditation reached level four by the time I was done. I pulled up my skills list again.

_**Meditation(Ki) (Active) - Lv:4 Exp:35.32%**_  
_Through meditation, you are able to replenish your Ki._  
_Effect: Restore 4 Ki per second._

"So, I really do gain one ki per second per skill level.", I said, confident in my math and memory. I stood up and looked around me. My tests had practically destroyed the apartment in my protected space. Some of the walls had large holes. The ceiling close to the front door had collapsed. Furnature from the apartment above came down with the ceiling. The force of Mega Ex had shattered the windows.

"Well, guess I get to recreate my dungeon.", I said as I observed my destructive handiwork. I left the dungeon and snacked on a left-over slice of pizza. I had some unsweet tea to go with the pizza. Pizza and tea wasn't a good combo but it made the nausea go away. I created a new dungeon once I was done eating and tried something new.

I had been so focused with my tests on Mega Ex that I didn't try releasing ki from places other than my hand. I was hoping to use ki for evasion skills. So, I assumed a stance similar to when I created Mega Ex. I faced the wall that divided the living room and Alice's room. I shifted my weight and gathered a small amount of ki in my left foot. I released the ki as I leapt backwards.

My experiment was a failure. I soared backwards, as I had hoped to, but I was horribly off-balance. I planted my right foot on the floor in an attempt to stick the landing. My leg buckled and I landed on my back. My world begun to spin as I tumbled across the floor. The spinning stopped when I slammed into the wall on the other side of the living room.

I let out a pitiful high-pitched moan as pain circulated through my body. When I sat up, I noticed I had left a partial imprint of my back in the wall. I tried another attempt while using less ki. I didn't soar as far backwards but I still failed the landing. I must have looked like a human pretzle by the time I stopped tumbling across the bare floor.

My head, lower legs, and the backside of my shoulders were the only parts of my body touching the floor. My head was sandwiched between my knees. I rocked my body to the side to break out of the uncomfortable position. I sat upright and crossed my legs. I was successful in my evasion attempt until it came time for the landing. It didn't take long for me to realize why I couldn't make the landing work: I easily lost my balance and I wasn't using ki for the landing.

I meditated to recover my ki and tried my new approach. I launched myself and soared through the air. I managed to partially keep my balance but I misjudged the landing and tumbled across the floor again. I finally managed a decent landing after a few more tries. I was rewarded with a pop-up and a sound effect.

_*DING!*_  
_A new skill has been created: Internal Reinforcement._

I smiled as I opened the skill menu and looked at my new skill. It wasn't as good as I was hoping for. I definitely didn't like the ki cost either. I was a little upset that my newest skill seemed to be worthless.

_**Internal Reinforcement (Active) - Lv:1 Exp:0.0%**_  
_Cost: 25 Ki per second_  
_You reinforce your bones, muscles, and nervous system with ki. You are able to move considerably faster by doing so._  
_Effect: 25% increase in movement speed._

"Twenty-five ki per second is insane! I recover four ki per second with Meditation! I can barely use it for ten seconds!", I whined. Sure, I could level the skill when I wasn't hunting monsters but it just wasn't usable. I sat down and started meditating, unsure of what to do now.

"I had started out with a max of fifty ki. It took me almost six hours of meditating to push my max ki above three hundred. It doesn't help that my ki growth has already slowed down a bit.", I mused as I watched pop-ups appear in front of me every few minutes. My frustrations slowly dissapated as I meditated. "I'm looking at my skill is in the worst way. Something that is usable now will be too weak to use later.", I said, growing calmer by the second.

I thought about how equipment worked in MMOs and RPGs. A starting weapon was great early in the game but would quickly become useless. It was similar to Alice's complaints with Magic Blast. I would just have to keep improving my maximum KP until I could use my new skill freely. Despite my logic, something was still bothering me about my skill. I figured it out what was bothering me pretty quickly once I reread the skill window.

"If I can affect the inside of my body-", I started to think it over but I changed my mind. "Screw it. Thinking about ki didn't get me anywhere.", I said as I stood up. I focused on all the ki in my body. I pushed my ki into my skin and watched at white wispy tendrils slowly started leaking out of my skin. The tendrils disappeared shortly after leaving my body. I released my ki all over my body and watched as my ki bar rapidly went empty in a matter of seconds.

_*DING!*_  
_You have created a new skill: External Reinforcement._  
_External Reinforcement has gained a secondary effect._  
_Internal Reinforcement has gained a secondary effect._

"Wait, what?", I said after reading the windows. I quickly opened the skills menu and found the two skills. I opened and read both of them to see what happened.

**_Internal Reinforcement (Active) - Lv:1 Exp:0.0%_**  
_Cost: 25 Ki per second_  
_You reinforce your bones, muscles, and nervous system with ki. You are able to move considerably faster by doing so._  
_Effect: 25% increase in movement speed._  
_Secondary Effect: 50% increased physical damage._  
_Secondary Effect Condition: External Reinforcement must be active._

**_External Reinforcement (Active) - Lv:1 Exp:0.0%_**  
_Cost: 50 Ki per second_  
_You shroud your body in ki, reducing the damage you take._  
_Effect: 15% reduced damage._  
_Secondary Effect: 50% increased ki-based damage._  
_Secondary Effect Condition: Internal Reinforcement must be active._

"A secondary effect and condition?", I mused as I studied the skill descriptions. "Ok, that's really weird. I've never seen buffs behave like this in MMOs.", I said as I sat down to meditate. "I've seen a few MMOs with passive skills do this but never with buffs.", I said as I started meditating. Things were just getting weirder and weirder with my skills. More than that, I really didn't like having what felt like long names for my skills. If I could name custom skills, could I rename my other skills?

"Rename skill.", I said, hoping it worked. A small window popped up in front of me, asking what skill I wanted to rename. "External Reinforcement.", I said carefully. Another window appeared, asking what name I would like to give to my skill. "Ki Shroud.", I said, after taking some time to think. I renamed Internal Reinforcement to Ki Veil as well.

I spent a little time with my new buffs, learning how to turn them on and off. Obviously, my buffs were activated by saying their names but I could turn off all of my buffs by saying 'Cancel'. After that, I meditated until the sun came up. I scared Alice as I left the dungeon. Apparently, she struggled to fall asleep and didn't sleep for very long. I relayed my discoveries to her. We woke up Darren a little bit later.

We enjoyed leftover pizza for breakfast. After a bit, Alice took Darren with her to see our new apartment. I was left all alone in the apartment. I took a shower and cleaned up a bit. I even enjoyed some personal time, which was rare. I curled up in bed once I had finished. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

When I woke up, the sun was hanging low in the sky. It was getting dark in the apartment. I could hear Darren and Alice talking in the bedroom. As I sat up, I noticed a window had popped up in front of me.

_You have enjoyed a restful sleep._  
_All abnormal conditions have been removed._  
_HP/MP have been fully recovered._

I got out of bed and headed for the bedroom, listening as Alice talked. "Look, I'm just saying we need to consider every possibility. I know you don't enjoy school but I do want you to graduate. I felt like I was on top of the world when I walked across the stage. On top of that, you'd get the satisfaction of proving everyone was wrong about you.", she said, her voice sounding strained. She only sounded like that when she was trying to have patience with someone.

"I don't care about proving anyone wrong. I wanna drop out so I can help you guys farm mobs. Just admit it: it's a lot easier when it's the three of us.", Darren argued loudly. I could tell this conversation had been going for a while. I heard Alice give a sigh of frustration.

"You've put eight years of your life into school. Do you want to finish the first major milestone of your life or just leave it hanging, wondering what it would have been like to graduate?", she asked. I could hear the frustration in her voice. I heard a low, deep growl come from Darren. He was at his limit for arguing.

"Damnit, John!", he yelled. I felt my entire body lock up. We never called Alice by her birth name. I had intended to support Alice's argument but, now, I was glad I wasn't in the room. Silence filled the apartment but not for long.

"Alice, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean-Fuck!", he yelled, upset over his mistake. This time, Alice didn't reprimand him for swearing. I took that as my cue to quietly head back to the pull-out bed. I heard Darren start to say something else but Alice cut him off. I stopped moving to listen.

"Darren, I know you didn't mean to call me that.", she said quietly. I could hear the sting of pain and betrayal in her voice. Her bed and the mattress springs creaked as someone moved around. "You're my brother and I love you. Still, I don't think you can drop out until you're seventeen or that you should drop out. But, I can get you registered for homeschooling.", she said, her voice sounding strained for a very different reason.

I made it back to the bed without alerting them. I laid there and listened to bits and pieces of the conversation. I gathered that Alice formed a compromise with Darren. He would be homeschooled so all of us could hunt together. Naturally, she would still make him study. Eventually, they left the bedroom and saw that I was awake.

I pretended to be in the middle of waking up. Once I 'woke up', we formed a new party but, this time, I wanted to try something new. I explained to them how someone got attacked by zombies practically every time we created a dungeon in the apartment. I also pointed out how we'd be closer to the fire escape ladders if we entered the dungeon from inside the alley. Before long, we all agreed to create a dungeon in the alleyway.

I created a dungeon once we were in the alley. Then, I remembered I had changed my dungeon settings to make a blank dungeon. I also gained a skill level when we left the dungeon. I created a new dungeon after fixing my settings. I watched as the dungeon space spread out around us, the feeling having become eerily familiar.

"Alright, let's get to killing some zombies!", I said, trying to sound upbeat. It didn't take long for us clear out the street. Alice had easily proven her point about Magic Blast. They were easily killing zombies with their new spell, Magic Missile. Likewise, I wasn't struggling at all with the zombies either, as long as I used Mega Ex. Occasionally, we took breaks at the fire escape to recover mana and ki. I looked at my skills during the breaks when I wasn't spending points from leveling up.

_**Hand-to-Hand Combat - Trainee (Passive) - Lv:7 Exp:12.17%**_  
_You have learned the basics of fighting with your fists._  
_Effect: Inflict 48% more physical damage, move 8% faster. In effect only when unarmed._

_**Meditation(Ki) (Active) - Lv:7 Exp:79.21%**_  
_Through meditation, you are able to replenish your ki._  
_Effect: Restore 9 Ki per second._

_**Mega Ex (Active) - Lv:5 Exp:73.53%**_  
_Cost: 30 Ki_  
_You generate a strong Ki-infused punch by pooling and condensing your Ki into your fist. Skill damage is linked to Strength._  
_Effect: Inflict 1000% ki-based damage._

"Your skills are coming along nicely.", said Alice. She was looking over my shoulder to see my progress. "We've all been getting stronger but I don't think we've been focusing entirely on the right skills.", she said as she sat next to me. She called up her skill list and pulled up a skill description. I made a mental note that I was wrong about Meditation at the same time.

_**Magic Missile (Active) - Lv:4 Exp:92.53%**_  
_Cost: 10 Mana per bolt_  
_Attack with two piercing mana bolts from afar. Skill damage is linked to Intelligence._  
_Range: 40M_  
_Effect: Each bolt deals 650% magic damage._

"This kind of progress is good but, eventually, we will need to hunt stronger monsters to keep leveling up.", she said as she closed the description. I noticed Darren was looking our way. He came over to us as she pulled up another description.

_**Create Instant Dungeon (Active) - Lv:1 Exp:80.0%**_  
_You are able to generate a dungeon full of monsters._  
_Dungeon ID:_  
_0 - No monsters_  
_1 - Goblins(Day), Zombies(Night)_

"It kept bothering me that our dungeon skills have levels and IDs. So, what's the point of the dungeon skills having levels and IDs?", she asked as she looked at us. She didn't explain what she was getting at. That meant she wanted us to figure it out for ourselves. Darren beat me to the answer, this time.

"Well, our skills get stronger as they level up. So, leveling up our dungeon skills would make stronger dungeons!", he said, excited at the thought. He wiped his forehead with the back of his head. "Man, the two of you are crazy. I haven't put any of this stuff together. Shit, I haven't even created a custom skill.", he said as he sat next to Alice. We talked it over for a bit but we went back to the grind before long.

The grind itself was actually pretty fun, despite the repetition. I didn't even need to go for their heads anymore, which was a good thing. Most of the zombies were a lot taller than me. The height difference had made it much harder to punch them in the face for extra damage. After a few hours, something happened that changed our grind dramatically.

A loud, piercing roar echoed throughout the empty street. The three of us ran for the alley, unsure of what was happening. Another roar battered our ears. The source of the roar was getting closer. Then, all of us saw it at the same time. Black smoke started pouring up and out from the middle of the street.

A dark gray mass was coming out of the black smoke. Part of the mass formed into a head that let out the same roar we had been hearing. What looked like arms begun to form. Not long after, it started to form legs as well. We watched in silence as the entity quickly began to resemble something humanoid.

"Observe.", I whispered. I didn't know why I was whispering. I definitely didn't feel a cold chill run up my spine. A sound effect went off as two windows appeared in front of me.

_*DING!*_  
_Observe has gained a level._

_Amalgamated Zombie Lv.34_  
_HP: 12,000/12,000_  
_The grudges of the dead are released when the dead are put to rest. The negative energy of the grudges will linger in the area. An amalgamated being can be formed from the negative energy if a large amount of grudges are released in a relatively short period of time._  
_Strengths:_  
_Possesses overwhelming physical power and reasonable speed_  
_Weaknesses:_  
_Slow to act and incapable of rational thought._

"What the hell is that?", asked Alice as she put a little space between us. She was getting ready to move, if needed. Two dark red orbs of light appeared where the zombie's eyes would normally be. It's gaze settled on us, me specifically. All of us had leveled up a bit during our grind but this thing was basically a field boss. Every seasoned MMO player knew field bosses were powerful and had only the best loot.

"I'll hold aggro. Darren, Alice, nuke the bitch.", I said, pretending to be confident as I started walking forward. I couldn't take a single hit or I would likely die. I knew that much just from the boss' level. The boss stood up and roared again as floating text and a HP bar appeared above its head. I took off like a shot, running straight for the boss.

"Ki Shroud! Ki Veil!", I yelled when I got close. The boss slammed it's palm into the street to try crushing me. I sidestepped the attack with the help of Ki Veil. "Mega Ex!", I yelled, throwing a punch at the boss's arm. "Cancel!", I said, as I ran through the boss's legs. As I ran, I threw a quick glance at my ki bar and the boss' HP bar.

I had burned just under half of my ki bar while taking a little less than a tenth of the boss's HP. Magic Missiles begun to pelt the boss. I started to get a bad feeling when the boss dug its hands into the asphalt. I quickly realized I had lost aggro and bolted back towards the boss. The boss ripped a chunk of asphalt out of the road and lifted it high. I triggered my buffs when I got close to the boss.

"Ki Shroud! Ki Veil! Mega Ex!", I yelled, rattling off skill names in rapid succession. I landed a Mega Ex on the boss's leg, causing it to stumble as it threw the chunk of asphalt at Darren and Alice. I planted another Mega Ex into the boss's leg just before my ki ran out and my buffs faded. I glanced at Darren and Alice.

Alice was helping Darren get up off the sidewalk. The chunk had hit and gone through the front wall of the apartment complex. The hole in the wall was so big that I thought I could see into our apartment on the second floor. My attention returned to the boss when it lifted its right foot. The boss tried to stomp me into the ground as I leaped back. The Magic Missile bombardment returned in full force, pelting the boss's backside.

"I need way more ki.", I said. I watched the boss turned its attention back toward Darren and Alice. "I'm out of ki! Run!", I screamed as the boss stomped towards Alice and Darren. I quickly sat down and begun meditating. I watched as my ki bar started filling up. I knew I didn't have much time to recover my ki.

"Darren, duck!", Alice yelled at the top of her lungs. Instinctively, I looked for the boss and saw it throwing a car at Darren. Darren stopped running and dove to the ground. My heart was in my throat long before the car missed Darren. The car went through the wall of the building next to him. My ki bar was only half-way full. The boss was about half-way dead as well.

Alice hounded the boss with more Magic Missiles as she ran on the sidewalk. The boss chucked a nearby truck at Alice. She dropped to the ground like Darren had done. Darren drew aggro with Magic Missile as the truck shot through the hole in the apartment building. I couldn't watch this anymore. I got up and ran straight towards the boss.

"Ki Shroud! Ki Veil!", I yelled as I closed the distance between us. The boss must have heard me. It turned to face me as it drew back its right arm. The boss roared as it swung its hand down at me. It was trying to grab me!

The boss swung its hand down as I dropped into a slide. I felt a strong gust of wind blow past me along with its hand. I was vaguely aware of Magic Missiles pounding the boss as I hopped back to my feet. I threw a Mega Ex punch at its leg just before my buffs faded. I watched the boss's leg turn into black smoke. Several windows popped up in front of me.

_The party, 'Grindfest', has defeated the field boss: Amalgamated Zombie._  
_You have gained 52,939 exp._  
_You have gained a level._  
_You have gained a level._  
_You have gained a level._  
_You have gained a level._

"Alice, Darren, we did it!", I yelled as I looked around for them. Darren came out from hiding behind a smashed up car. Alice came out from the large hole in the wall of apartment complex. A bright white light briefly lit up in front of me. When it faded, there was a small heap of things where the light had been.

"I'm just glad nobody got hurt.", said Alice, relieved as she pulled Darren and me into a hug. The three of us stood there, sharing brief hugs with each other. I was happy we took down the boss. I was even happier that none of us got hurt. We inspected the boss's loot after we separated.

There were five small glass bottles that looked like potions, two books, and a few bucks. One book was centered around necromancy, offering spells like summoning different kinds of undead. The other book offered skills for capturing and refining souls. None of us were all that interested in the books. I picked up a potion and used Observe on the potion.

Healing Potion  
Rarity: Rare  
Potions and tinctures are brewed by apothecaries and carry many medicinal and healing benefits. However, it is best to drink the entire concoction in order to receive the full benefit.  
Effect: Recovers 500 HP.

"Woah, that's pretty awesome.", said Darren. He was reading the item description over my shoulder. I had to admit Darren was right. These potions could easily save our lives. I told Darren I was a little bothered by the fact the bottles were made of glass. "Well, we can keep money in our inventories. So, why not keep the potions in our inventories?", he asked.

"Inventory.", I said. I put the cork back in the bottle and stared at the inventory screen. Darren touched the screen with a potion. Just like that, the potion was sucked into the screen. An icon of the potion appeared in my inventory. The number one was displayed in the bottom right hand corner of the icon. I added the potion in my hand to my inventory and the number turned into a two.

"Status.", I said, calling up my stats to spend my points. I had almost forgotten about the fact that I leveled up from the boss fight. I had also leveled up twice before the boss fight. I dropped fifteen points into Agility and five points into Strength and kept ten points in reserve. I wanted to keep my Strength and Agility fairly even. I felt the effects of my points as soon as I finalized my changes.

_Name: Jun "Kuro" Tachibana_  
_Occupation: The Gamer_  
_Level: 16 Exp: 35.34%_  
_Age: 15_

_HP: 840/840_  
_KP: 409/409_  
_MP: 170/170_

_Strength: 41_  
_Agility: 40_  
_Intelligence: 15_  
_Wisdom: 5_  
_Luck: 4_  
_Points: 10_

"Man, my Int is getting kinda high.", said Darren as he looked over his stats. I hadn't seen Darren's stats before. I was a little curious about them. I leaned around him to see what he had been raising.

_Name: Darren Rockwell_  
_Occupation: Struggling Magician_  
_Level: 14 Exp: 97.89%_  
_Age: 15_

_HP: 160/160_  
_MP: 420/420_

_Strength: 7_  
_Agility: 4_  
_Intelligence: 40_  
_Wisdom: 11_  
_Luck: 5_  
_Points: 15_

He seemed to be focusing exclusively on his Intelligence. I couldn't help but worry a little since his HP was so low. After all, a zombie almost killed him with just a single bite. I watched as he put all of his points into Intelligence. A window popped up in front of Darren when he finalized his changes.

_*DING!*_  
_A new skill has been created: Mana Affinity._

"Skills.", said Darren. He had eight skills. I recognized the icons for all but two of his skills. I assumed one icon was Magic Missile while the other icon was for his new skill. I was actually pretty curious about what his new skill did. "Aw man, I was hoping for something much more than this.", he whined after bringing up the skill description. Alice beat me to shutting down his whining.

_**Mana Affinity (Passive) - Lv:Max**_  
_You are more sensitive to mana and have a higher mana capacity than the average spellcaster. As such, you can control mana much more easily. In addition, you make more progress towards your efforts in mana training sooner than others._  
_Effect: Magic damage increased by 10%. Maximum MP increased by 10%. All magic skills gain 10% more exp._

"That's actually a lot better than you think. Your spells will level up quicker, which means higher damage. You also get more mana per point spent on Intelligence, since you got an MP boost. You even deal more damage raw damage. It's all in how you look at things.", she pointed out pleasantly.

"Yea, I guess.", Darren relented. Alice called up her status window. I had to move around him just to see how her stats were coming along. Her stats were a little better balanced than Darren's were. She still had her focus set on Intelligence though.

_Name: Alicia Rockwell_  
_Occupation: Magician in Training_  
_Level: 17 Exp: 37.89%_  
_Age: 20_

_HP: 220/220_  
_MP: 420/420_

_Strength: 10_  
_Agility: 10_  
_Intelligence: 40_  
_Wisdom: 20_  
_Luck: 10_  
_Points: 20_

"I think I'll put them all into Wisdom.", she said as she finalized her choice. It didn't take her long to realize that Darren and I were staring at her. "I noticed that Wisdom increases my mana regen with a tick rate of one minute per tick. I gain one percent per ten Wisdom. The percent is based on my max MP. So, I regen five percent of my total MP every minute.", she explained. Darren and I continued to stare at her, not quite understanding her motives.

"Okay, let me put this another way. I get back five percent of my total mana every minute. It only takes me twenty minutes to fully restore my mana and it's even quicker when I use Meditation. No offense, Jun, but I learned from you how bad things can get when we can't use our skills during a boss battle.", she said. Now I knew what she was getting at: I was useless when I was out of ki.

"Now, I just want to take a shower and go to bed. We do need to get ready to move soon and I really don't want to pack while I'm tired.", she said as she headed towards the ruined apartment building. We followed her into the building we would soon be leaving forever. I saw part of a crumpled up truck sticking out of a wall on the first floor. The stairwell was covered in splintered wood and small, powdery pieces of badly broken sheet rock.

She opened the door to the apartment and just stood there. I looked past her and saw that a large portion of the floor had collapsed. The rest of the floor didn't look to be very stable either. So, we left the dungeon while we were still in the hallway. We entered the apartment, took our showers, and went to bed.

We woke up just before noon. We created an empty dungeon to train our skills. I divided my time between working on Mega Ex, Ki Shroud, Ki Veil, and raising my maximum KP. Alice and Darren spent their time grinding their magic skills by demolishing the surrounding buildings. That night, I disbanded the party and worked on creating and leaving dungeons.

I had begun to suspect the skill system had hidden features. Ki Shroud and Ki Veil were prime examples. I was fairly certain there was much more to my dungeon skills after I gained the ability to create a new dungeon ID. Then, there was how Darren created his newest skill, Mana Affinity. I was so focused on skill grinding, killing zombies, and boss hunts that I didn't sleep for three days. There was just so much I wanted to learn about my power that I couldn't help myself. Our new apartment was ready for us to move into on my third day of sleepless grinding.

They woke up early in the morning. The only things we packed were our clothes, the laptop, and our stuff in the bathroom. We packed everything we owned and wanted to keep in some spare trash bags. We stood at the front door, each carrying a trash bag. I had spent almost a year living there with Alice and Darren. It felt weird to leave the place I started calling home.

"Home is where the heart is.", whispered Alice as she gave me a one-armed hug. Then, I realized each of us were saying our goodbyes to the place we had lived in. But, it was a little different for me: the apartment was the first place where I had been part of a loving home. Eventually, we left the apartment. Alice turned in the apartment keys to Crocker. With that done, I couldn't help but feel that one chapter of my life had just ended.

* * *

**Ha ha, I'm so punny...I'll see myself out now.**


End file.
